Two years in the Klondike and Alaskan gold-fields; a thrilling narrative of personal experiences and adventures in the wonderful gold regions of Alaska and the Klondike, with observations of travel and exploration along the Yukon ... including full and authentic information of the countries described ..

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TWO YEARS

IN THE

ilvLONDIKE AND ALASKAN GOLD-FIELDS

I ^ Eljrilling Warratiijc

t PERSONAL EXPERIENCES AND ADVENTURES IN THE WONDERFUL
GOLD REGIONS OF ALASKA AND THE KLONDIKE,
AVITH OBSERVATIONS OF TRAVEL AND EX-
PLORATION ALONG THE YUKON

PORTRAYING THE BANGERS, HARDSHIPS, AND PRIVATIONS OF A GOLD-
SEEKER'S LIFE ; WITH A FAITHFUL DESCRIPTION OF

ILtfr antr <Sccnr5 in 0olti IKinrs anti Camps

INCLUDING FULL AND AUTHENTIC INFORMATION OF THE COUNTRIES

DESCRIBED, THEIR UNDERGROUND TREASURES,

HOW TO FIND THEM, ETC.

WILLIAM B. HASKELL

fA Returned Gold Miner and Prospector)

BEauti'fiillo Bhtstratcti

WITH MANY ENGRAVIJfGS FROM RECENT PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN ON THE SPOT

HARTEORD, CONK.
HARTFORD PUBLISHING COMPANY

1898

fn^^-

vr

Entered according to Act of Congress, in tlie year 1898
By the Iiartford Publisbing Company

In the Office of ttie Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.

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Srom ^|)eciaf ^^ofograp^e ^Oibt cy^jreBsfg for i?>i& n2?orft, M\i>

Along the Dyea TraiI;, . . . Frontispiece

A lone gold-seeker crossing the Dyea River on his way to the Gold
Fields.

In Camp on the Dyea River after a Day's March,

Facing 58

A Supper of Beans and Coffee, . . Facing 76

A party of gold-seekers eating their supper at the entrance to Miles
Canon.

A Tired and Disgusted Party of Gold-seekers,

Facing 94
Looking for hotel accommodations on the Dyea Trail. The signs
"Hotel," "Lodgings," "Meals," and so forth, indicate that these
accommodations are to be found only in the snow-covered tent.

A Dog Team on the Yukon River, . . .99

On the way to the Gold Fields.

Rafting down the Yukon River, . Facing 116

The mining outfit of these two Klondikers, consisting of provisions,
arms, camp equipage, dogs, and so forth, is piled on to their rude raft.

A Long and Hard Journey over the Skagway

Trail, . . . . . Facing 142

Entrance to the Canon. Two Klondikers with heavy packs making
their way on foot through the deep snow.

(V)

^

-L268902

Vi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE.

8. A Hakd Place on the Tkail, . . Facing 168

Packers transport iiig the goods and outfits of gold-seekers over the
Skagway Trail.

9. On the Move, ..... Facing 186

A long pack train of heavily-loaded horses en route to the Gold Fields.

10. Testing a Stream for Gold, . . Facing 2U6

A gold-seeker panning for gold in a small creek in the Klondike Gold
Region.

11. Crossing the Skagway River, . . Facing 234

The bridge consists of the trunk of a single tree over \\hich two gold-
seekers are making their way. This is only one of many similar places
along the trail.

12. An Exciting Time, .... Facing 272

Arrival of the first Yukon steamer at Dawson.

13. Ready for Winter, . . . Facing 292

A wayside cabin on the Skagway Trail, made of logs and whip-sawed
boards. The chinks between the logs are filled with mud and moss.

N

14. After a Day's March, . . . Facing 312

A party of gold-seekers just after pitching their tent on the Skag\vay
Trail.

15. Caught on the Trail, . . . Facing 342

A party of gold-seekers who failed to get over the summit in the fall.
Their provisions are cached in the little hut at the right. The party win-
tered here until spring enabled them to continue their journey.

16. "White Pass Hotel" on the Skagway Trail, Facing 360

Contrast size of the sign with that of the " Hotel." The latter consists
of only a small log hut.

17. A Mid-winter Camp at the Mouth op Skagway

Canon, ...... Facing 378

Tents afford the only shelter from the heavy suow'S-and bitter cold of
an Arctic winter.

18. Tf>o Late. A Disappointed Pair op Gold-seekers,

Facing 400
They failed to reach their destination before winter set in. Here they
cached their outfit and food before returning to civilization to wait until
spring. The trunk of a tree was erected as a landmark to guide them
to the spot on their return.

19. On the Border, .... Facing 434

Canadian mounted police collecting Customs duty from Klondikers
at the point where the Canadian Government has established a boundary
line at White Pass. The huge pile of boxes, bags, and goods of all kinds
belong to gold-seekers en route to the Gold Fields.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS VH

PAGE.

20. A Restaurant and its Proprietor on the Dye a

Trail, ...... Facing 450

The sign " Meals " is painted on the remains of a pair of old trousers.

21 . A Blockade on the Skagway Trail, . Facing 460

22. A Pack Train Crossing the Skagway Trail in

Winter, ..... Facing 468

23. Mid-winter on the Trail, . . . Facing 490

Tent of a pah- of gold-seekers pitched by the side of a corduroy
bridge in Skagway Canon.

24. A One-horse Sledge Team, . . . Facing 510

A pair of gold-seekers on their way to the Gold Fields.

25. Snowed in. Waiting for Better Weather, Facin/j 528

A gold-seeker clad in his parka, with dog and horse, near his snow-
covered tent.

CHAPTER I

MY BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE — WHAT LED ME TO
ADOPT THE LIFE OF A GOLD-SEEKER — WHY MY
EYES WERE TURNED TOWARDS ALASKA.

Boyhood on a Vermont Farm — Scanty Rewards of Toil — Forgetting
the Cows — My Father Has Ambitions for Me — I Am Sent to School
but Am Negligent in Study — The Mystery of Inheritance — Book
Knowledge — I Choose a Business Career in the City — Behind a
Counter in a Dry-goods Store — My Unhappy Lot — Sighing for
the Great West — Temptation to Break Away — It Finally Over-
comes Me — News of Wonderful Finds of Gold — I Take My Little
Belongings and Arrive in Chicago — Life as a Brakeman — Falling
in with Gold Miners — Something about Nuggets — A Tramp's
Luck — The Creede Rush — Cripple Creek — Two Irish Boys and
Their Mountain Patch — Alaska for the Gold-Seeker, . , 33

CHAPTER II

HO FOR ALASKA ! — EXTENT OF OUR GREAT TERRITORY-
GETTING READY FOR THE START — OUR OUTFIT
AND WHAT IT CONSISTED OF.

My Meager Ideas of the Territory — Joe Draws on His Store of Infor-
mation— Vast Extent of the Country — Dull and Dirty Natives —

(ix)

CONTENTS

A Race of Shirks — Habits of tlio Dogs — Navigatiou of the Yukon
— Mosquitoes That "Kill Bears "— Story of the Miners' Search
for Gold on the Yukon — A Pioneer Prospecting Party — Some of
the Early Finds — Gold Everywhere — The Klondike Moose Pas-
ture— Despised by the Gold-Seekers — Coarse Gold on Forty -Mile
Creek— The Rise of the Town — Sixty Mile — Miller and Glacier
Creeks — A Missionary Picks up a Nugget — Founding of
Circle City — My Partner Becomes Impatient — Making Our Plans
— ^^We Proceed to San Francisco — Buying an Outfit — What It
Consisted of — Our 31ediciue Chest — Over a Ton and a Half to
Carry — A Peep into the Future — Ominous Suggestions, . 45

CHAPTEK III

CHOOSING A ROUTE— OUR VOYAGE ALONG THE COAST
— ARRIVAL AT DYE A — FIRST EXPEREENCE WITH
NATIVES.

Departure from San Francisco — Port Townsend — Through Puget
Sound — Points of Interest and Beauty — A Gap in the Island Belt
— Few Moments of Seasickness — The Great Scenic Region — la
Alaskan Waters — Tide Water Glaciers — Juneau as a Metropolis —
A Glimpse of Totem Poles — Indian Traders — The Mines of the
Vicinity and their Discovery — Famous Tread well Mills — The
Largest in the World — The Skagway and Dalton Trails — Pro-
ceeding to Dyea — Dumped on the Beach — Getting Supplies
Together and Beyond the Tide — The Problem of Moving Ahead —
Approached by Indian Packers — Dangers of Bidding up Prices —
A Contract with the Heathen — Our First Night in Camp — Dark
Ways of the Chilkoots, 58

CONTENTS XI

CHAPTER IV

LIFE ON THE TRAIL — STRANGE SIGHTS AND SCENES —
STORM BOUND IN SHEEP CAMP — A WOMAN'S AD-
VENTURES AND EXPERIENCES.

Along the Famous Dyea Trail — Walking Twenty Miles and Making
Four — Snow, Boulders, and Glaciers —Exhibitions of Grit — Tent-
ing in the Snow — A Democratic Crowd — The Yukon Stove —
The So-called Gridiron — Beans and Bacon — "It will be New On
the Yukon" — Asleep on a Bed of Boughs — What a Trail Consists
of — A Crack Two Miles Long — Pleasant Camp — Sheep Camp
and the Faint-Hearted — A Discouraged Man and a Resolute
Woman — Going Over Anyhow — Not All so Brave — Having a
Good Cry — My Theory as to the Fortitude of Some Women —
Throwing off the Fetters of Civilization — Two Weeks of Storm —
]\Ionotony and Silence — An Active Glacier Entertains Us — Nature' s
Untamed Moods — Sunshine at Last, 72

CHAPTER A'

THE DREADED CHILKOOT PASS — HOW WE CROSSED IT
— SLIDING DOWN THE MOUNTAINS AT LIGHTNING
SPEED — "THERE COMES A WOMAN."

A Steep Trail — Climbing the Mountain Forty Times — Some of the
Difficulties — Missteps that are Dangerous — Straight up over
Seven Hundred Feet — An Obscure Summit — Facilitating the Re-
turn — Trousers Fortified with a Canvas Patch — A Slide in the
Trench — Tobogganing Outdone — A Collision — Out of Sight in
the Deep Snow— " There Comes a Woman " — Down Like a Flash

— Runaway Sleds — An Alaskan Sunburn — Snow-blindness — A
Painful Experience — On the Summit at Last — A Grand Spectacle

— Turning Sleds Loose down the Mountain — Bounding over
Crater Lake — Lake Lindeman — Observing the Timber — The

Xll CONTENTS

Irresponsible Indian — Signaling by Burning Trees — Ice-sledding
across Lindeman — Flapjacks and Congratulations, . . 85

CHAPTER YI

CAMP LIFE IN ALASKA— WE BUILD A BOAT TO CONTINUE
OUR JOURNEY— ADVENTURES WITH BEARS.

Our Camp at Lake Tagish — Building a Boat — The Saw Pit — Pre-
paring the Trees — Whip-sawing — Its Effect on Character — An
Accident — Almost a Quarrel — A Case in Which Angels Would
Lose their Amiability — Spoiling the First Log — " Work it Some-
how " — The Dish-Rag and the Dog — A Bargain — Adventure of a
New Yorker with a Bear and Three Cubs — An Excited 3Ian —
He Empties His Gun and Nearly Kills His Dog — I Lend Him
My Rifle — The Bear Finally Gives It Up — Catching the Cubs —
Tough Hams — Our Triumphant Return — An Old Timer's Bear
Story — Face to Face with a Wounded Bear — Playing Possum —
Just in Time — A Narrow Escape, 100

CHAPTER YII

A DANGEROUS VOYAGE — OVERTURNING OF OUR BOAT —
LOSS OF AN S800 OUTFIT — WE ESCAPE WITH OUR
LRT:S — HUNTING FOR A CAMP THIEF.

We Name Our Boat the Tar Stater — More Handsome than Adequate
— Drifting amid Scenes of Wild Grandeur — Magical Vegetation —
Fifty Mile River — At the Mouth of the Caiaon — We Conclude to
Pack Around — Several Boats Go Through — The Trail — An Offer
to Take the Tar Stater Through for 85 — 1 Am Invited to Ride,
and Accept — A Quick Repentance — Discarding Gum Boots — A
Serious Catastrophe — At the Mercy of the Current — Clinging to
an Overturned Boat — Over Again — Saved — A Four-Minute

CONTENTS Xlll

Experience — The Milk is Spilled — Loss of an $800 Outfit —
Recovering Our Boat — Towards White Horse Rapids — Disap-
pearance of the Sugar Saved from the Wreck — I Am Mad —
Strapping on My Gun — Looking for a Camp Thief — Sympathy
for Us — A Phase of Yukon Life, 118

CHAPTER VIII

SOME THRILLING EXPERIENCES — DISCOVERY OF THE
THIEF — HIS SUMMARY PUNISHMENT— PICTURES BY
THE WAY.

Through the White Horse Rapids in an Empty Boat — Close Shave for
the Tar Stater — Rough to Experience but Interesting to Watch —
Overtaking Three Boats — I find the Sack of Sugar and the Thief
— Swift Preparations for a Lynching Bee — " Say the Word and Up
He Goes " — I Refuse — " Nothing Less Than Fifty Lashes, Then " —
I Administer Them on the Thief's Bare Back — The Victim Becomes
a Good Citizen — Lake Lebarge and Tagish Indians — Eggs for a
Change — In the Twilight of the Midnight — Nature in Her Great
Work — Cutting Down Hills and Valleys — Where Eagles Nest —
Twisting and Turning — Five Fingers — Rink Rapids — Arrival at
Fort Selkirk — A Touch of Civilization — The Route Marked with
Graves of the Fallen — Reflections on the Journey, . . 128

CHAPTER IX

LIFE ON A YUKON POST — OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE
KLONDIKE — HOW MINERS ADMINISTER JUSTICE IN
ALASKA — THE PLAGUE OF MOSQUITOES.

The Latest News — The Swift Yukon and Its Branches — The Upper
Ramparts — White River and Its Probable Sources — Stewart River
and the Tales of Indians — Reports of Prospectors — Sixty Mile

XIV CONTENTS

Creek — Passing the Mouth of the Troan-Dik or Klondike — Its
Various Names and How They Were Obtained — A Peep at the
Moose Pasture — Moose Skin Mountain — Old Fort Reliance — Forty
Mile and Its Institutions — Justice as Administered at Miners-
3Ieetings — A Little German's Trouble — French Joe's Experience

— A Tailor and His Bill — The Canadian Police — A Plague of
Mosquitoes — How They Operate and How Their Bites Work —
Old Pharaoh's Troubles Not a Circumstance — What Miners Suffer

— No Preventive Sufficient — Tough Miners Sit and Cry — 3Iore
Indian Tales — Bears and Dogs in a Frenzy — Frost Comes as a
Blessing, 141

CHAPTER X

ARRIVAL AT CIRCLE CITY — DANCE HALLS AND OTHER
PLACES OF AMUSEMENT — THE YUKON SLED —
ALASKAN DOGS AND THEIR PECULIARITIES.

Pushing on to Circle City — Some of the Yukon Creeks — Old Man
Rock and Old Woman Rock — A Flight of Native Fancy — The
Poor Man and His Scolding Wife — His Last Resort and its
Petrifying Results — Prospecting American Creek — Our Lumber
Venture — A Thunder Storm and a Wreck — Escaping on the
Tar Stater — Arriving at Circle City — Our Reception — Some of
the City's Institutions — Convenience of the Saloons — No money
but Gold Dust — How Purchases Are Made — The Dance Halls —
The Relaxation of Faro — Dogs Invade Our Boat — Their Thieving
Propensities — Faithful Workers — Their Enormous and Indiscrim-
inating Appetite — Eating Their Harness — An Arctic Turnout —
The Dog Whip and Its Uses— The Yukon Sled—" Ouk," "Arrah,"
and "Holt," 158

CONTENTS XV

CHAPTER XI

GUARDING AGAINST EVIL-DOERS — LIFE IN A GOLD-
SEEKER'S CABIN — HOW IT IS BUILT AND FURNISHED.

Society in Circle City — Cabin Doors Open — The Pimishment of Evil-
doers— Miners' Meetings — Methods of Procedure — Judge and
Jury — No Pistols — Our Money Runs Low — Joe Hurries to the
Mines — Great Demand for Log Buildings — High Price of Lots —
Process of Building a Cabin — Two Things to Remember — How
the Moss Comes into Play — Doors and Windows — The Interior
of Cabins — Rude Furniture — Unique Beds — Something More
Substantial — The Yukon Palace — Access to the Second Story —
How Storm Sheds are Made — Tents Good Enough for People
with No Gold Dust — A Man With an Axe a Skilled Workman —
A Bustling Scene — Logs and Chips Everywhere — An Ounce a
Day for Some Workmen — Dreaming of a Coming Metropolis on
the Yukon 173

CHAPTER XII

WORK AND WAGES IN ALASKA — AGRICULTURAL POSSI-
BILITIES IN THE ICY NORTH — COST OF LIVING.

Misleading Rate of Wages — Cost of Bringing Provisions to the Yukon
Valley — A Sample Price-List at a Circle City Store — Value of Fresh
Meat — A Roast of Beef — A Woman Who Baked Bread at a Dollar
a Loaf — Fourteen Loaves a Day on a Yukon Stove — Monotony of
Diet — Ordinary Laws of Agriculture Upside Down — Difficulties
of Raising Garden Stuff — Plenty of Berries in the Summer — A
Dream of Agricultural Possibilities — Deceptive Flatlands — Nig-
gerheads and How They Grow — Grass That Makes Poor Fodder —
A Question of Transportation — Has Not Been Regarded as a Poor
Man's Country — Competition in the Stores — Jack McQuesten —

XVi CONTENTS

A Groat Night at Circle City — Order of Yukon Pioneers — Ai
Indication of the Hardships of Alaskan Life, . . . 183

CHAPTEK XIII

^ WE REACH THE GOLD DIGGINGS — LOCATING A CLAIM —
HOW GOLD IS MINED — THE MINER'S PAN, ROCKER,
AND SLUICE BOXES.

The Trail up Birch Creek — Some of the Gulches — Great Cost of Wood

— The Process of Placer Mining — How the Prospector AVorks —
Testing the Dirt — The Miner's Pan — The Trick of Shaking Out
Gold -^ All the Fascination of Gambling — Nature Holds the Cards

— Placer Mining Conditioned by the Climate — The Old Process of
Sun-Thawing — Soil That Resists Picks, Dynamite, and Hydraulics

— Where Fire Burning is Necessary — Burning at Night — A Long
Process — Sinking through the Muck — Rockers — Sluices and
How They are Constructed — Nature Caught in the Act — Claims
Regulated by the Miners Themselves — The Birch Creek Yield of
Gold 199

CHAPTEK XIV

MY VOYAGE DOWN THE MIGHTY YUKON — INCIDENTS
AND EXPERIENCES DURING THE TRIP — IN THE
SHADOW OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.

Down the Yukon River — Yukon Steamers — Flat-Bottoms and Stern-
Wheels — Carrying Machine Shops Along — A Perfect Labyrinth of
Water — Going Wherever ItsVarying Moods Take It — Barren Islands
— Fort Yukon — Lazy and Filthy Natives — Trading for Curios with
Yukon Indians — Birch and Beaver Creeks — A Sudden Change —
Out of the Flatlands into the Ramparts — Some Good-Looking
Creeks — The Munook — The Great Tanana River — Wooding Up

CONTENTS XVU

— Indian Settlements — The Women and Children — Dogs Galore
— The Inevitable Ca(;he — Nowikakat — Short Cut Portages to the
Coast — Thrilling Journey of a Party of Miners — Almost Ex-
hausted and Starved — Perils of Traveling in Alaska, . . 215

CPIAPTER XV

STILL JOURNEYING ALONG THE DREARY RIVER — SIGHTS
AND SCENES ON THE WAY — HABITS AND PECULIAR-
ITIES OF THE INDIANS.

Holy Cross Mission — Soap at Laet Has Legal-Tender Value — Some
Domestic Scenes — Close Race with the Climate — The Sisters of
St. Anue — Mass in a Log Church — The Untutored Innuits —
Their Unpleasant Environment — Queer Heirlooms — Geese and
Ducks Find a Favorable Abode — The Trip to the Coast — ^'St.
Michael — Why Ocean Steamers have to Anchor a Mile and a Half
Out — Alaska Commercial Company — Fort Get-There — A Lone
Government Official — The Question of Transferring Cargoes —
Characteristics of the Natives — Watching a Chance to Reach
the Yukon's Mouth — Difficulties of Getting in with a Load —
Breasting the Swift Current — A Hard Nut to Crack — Return-
ing up the River, 227

CHAPTER XVI

ARRIVAL AT FORTY MILE — WONDERFUL STORIES OF
NEW DIGGINGS — HO! FOR THE KLONDIKE ! — MAD
RUSH OF EXCITED GOLD-SEEKERS.

Something Has Happened — Forty Mile Almost Deserted — A Genuine ■
Stampede — The Discovery on the Thron-diuck or Klondike —
Henderson's Find on Gold Bottom — He Returns for Provisions —
Meeting Cormack's Fishing Party — He Tells of His Discovery —
2

'k^

■-v

XVlll CONTENTS

Cormack Concludes to Find Gold Bottom — Over the Trail — Re-
turns to His Fishing Camp — Prospects a Little on His Way —
Stumbles on a Good Pan on Bonanza Creek — Claims for Himself,
Tagish Charlie, and Tagish Jim — Siwash George's Reputation for
Truth and Veracity — Where Did He Get the Gold ? — Tremendous
Excitement — Forty Mile Deserted — Old Miners Lack Faith —
Skim Diggings — Highly- Colored Tales — I Conclude to Go and
See for Myself — Poling Up Stream — Returning Prospectors Shoot
By Us — "It's a Big Thing, Boys " — Never Mind the Blisters —
Tired and Footsore — A Lively Camp — Trying to Sleep — Ten
Dollars to the Pan, 240

CHAPTER XYII

MY FIRST TRAJtIP IN THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS —
WHAT A PLACE FOR GOLD ! — A PEEP INTO THE
SLUICE BOXES — I STAKE A CLAIM.

Preparations for a Start — Over the Mountain into the Swamps — A
Hard Tramp — Cranberries to Quench Thirst — A Mysterious Pup
— The Klondike Valley from the Summit — Glimpse of the Arctic
Rockies — "AH the Goold in the Worruld" — An Old Story —
Hurrying On — On Bonanza Creek at Last — Calculating the Dis-
tance— Blowing a Little — Looking for I^enry Ward Beecher — A
Disgusted Irishman — Too Tired to Keep On — A Look at the
Gravelly Bar — I form a Poor Opinion — Ready to Change My
Mind — Too Tired to Care — Forgetting One's Name — Chilled
Through — Nuggets Fished Out with a Shovel — Washing Out
the Gold — Objects of Suspicion — Pushing on for a Claim —
Indications Do Not Count — I Stake My Claim — Starting Back
in the Rain — Over the Trail Again — Our Turn to Yell, . 253

CONTENTS XIX

CHAPTER XVIII

THE DISCOVERY OF ELDORADO — THE FOUNDING OF ^
DAWSON — CONFUSION AND QUEER COMPLICA-
TIONS OVER CLAIMS — " THREE INCH WHITE."

Resting a Little — Carrying in Provisions — Promising Strikes of one
of the Pups — Eldorado — Joining Another Stampede — A New
Metropolis — Joseph Ladue and His Career — Mining in the Black
Hills — Attracted to Alaska — Sinking Holes without Success —
Faith in the Country — Grub-staking Henderson — How Ladue
Secured the Site for Dawson — -His Sawmill — The Mines in
October — High Price of Lumber — Rapid Growth of Dawson —
Much Confusion as to Claims — Miners Appointed to Measure —
Fractional Claims — How They Came About — The Mystery of
the Rope — Hibernian Bluff — Jim White and His Attempt to
Secure a Fractional Claim — The Canadian Surveyor Arrives —
"Three Inch White" — How Claims are Staked — The Fees and
the Requirements, 265

CHAPTER XIX

RICHNESS OF THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS —THE GREAT >
WINTER EXODUS FROM CIRCLE CITY — FIRST RE-
SULTS FROM TESTING PANS — MINERS WILD WITH
EXCITEMENT.

Realization of the Richness of the Klondike Claims — Why old Miners
were Skeptical — How Tenderfeet Suddenly Became Rich — Selling
Claims at Low Figures — Cutting Logs to Get Provisions — El-
dorado All Staked — Great Stroke for Some Men — Circle City
Skeptical — The First Big Pans — Excitement at Circle City — A
Mad Stampede — Scarcity of Dogs — Dogs at $2.50 Per Pound
— Some Big Strikes — Grumbling Canadians — Bed-Rock on
Eldorado — Lippy's Bargain — Nothing Like It in the History
of the World — Pans of Dirt Worth Five Hundred Dollars —

X

XX CONTENTS

The Miners Simply Staggered — Mrs. Berry Picks up $50 in
Nuggets While Calling Her Husband to Supper — Scarcity of
Labor — Hunting up Claims — Gold Everywhere, . . 280

CHAPTER XX

WINTER IN THE KLONDIKE — CAMP LIFE AND WORK —
A MINER'S DOMESTIC DUTIES — CHRISTMAS IN A
GOLD-SEEKERS CAMP.

Dreariness of Camp Life — Preparations for Winter — Cut Off from
the World — Even Labels Make Interesting Reading Matter — The
Only Library in the Camp — A Few Old Newspapers — Nuggets
for the Benefactor — Joe Arrives from Circle City — Gold, Gold
the one Topic of Interest — Forgetting the Day of the Month —
Domestic Duties — How We Kept House — Things That Must Not
Be Neglected — A Remedy that Kills or Cures — My Bread and
Biscuit — A New Recipe — Exorbitant Prices for Necessaries of
Life — Some of the Other Expenses — A Trip to Dawson — A Bit
of Recreation — Christmas in Camp — Story of a Christmas at Fort
Cudahy — No Turkey or Plum Pudding — A Klondike Christmas
— Presents for the Half-Breeds — How Toys were Obtained — A
Scene of Merriment — A Yukon Santa Claus — First Christmas
Party on the Klondike, 291

CHAPTER XXI

ALASKAN WEATHER — ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION-
HOW WE PULLED THROUGH — DANGERS OF WINTER
TRAVELING— PAINFUL EXPERIENCES.

The Paradox of Alaskan Weather — A Difference in Humidity —
Miners' Thermometers — Time to Take Care of One's self — Seventy-
two Degrees below Zero — Sunset and Sunrise — Dangers on the

CONTENTS XXI

Trail — We Discard the Hut and Take to the Tent — Building
Fires in the Morning — Hearing One's Breath Strike the Air — An
Involuntary Bath — Paiul'ul Experiences — Eyelids Freeze To-
gether— Protection against the Bitter Cold — The Parka and Its
Uses — An Alaskan Opera Cloak — As a Frost Protector — Care of the
Feet — Snow Shoes — Shortage in the Food Supply — How it Seems
to be without Salt — Sold for Its Weight in Gold — The Pulling-
Through Process — Northern Lights as a Compensation for a Win-
ter in Alaska — Tlieir Brilliancy, 305

CHAPTER XXII

PREPARING FOR SLUICING — THE SPRING "CLEAN-UP"—
ASTONISHING RESULTS WHEN DIRT WAS WASHED
OUT — SOME LUCKY STRIKES — THE ROMANCE OF
FORTUNE.

Joe and I Have Poor Luck — Trying to Locate the Pay-Streak — Big
Pans in March and April — Pay-Dirt — How the Value of the Dirt
is Reckoned — Old Miners Begin to Speculate — Expense of Getting
Sluice Boxes — Some of the Fortunes — Berry and His Wonderful
Strike — Very Blue when He Heard of the Klondike — Takes Out
$130,000 — A Bird in the Hand vs. a Bird in the Bush — A Wiscon-
sin Schoolmaster's Experience — Worth a Million — Better than
Trading — Sudden Rise in the Value of Claims — Computing the
Value of a Bonanza Claim — Wonderful Results — The Aggregate
Amount of the Spring Work — Some of the Lucky Ones on El-
dorado Creek — Fortunes on the Bonanza — Lucky Days — " What
AVill I Do With All That Money V " 318

XXll CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXIII

STORIES OF GREAT HARDSHIPS AND SCANTY REWARDS

— A ROMANCE OF THE KLONDIKE — CLAIM JUMPERS —
AN OLD SLAVE'S LUCKY STRIKE.

Gold by the Ton — The Unfortunate Ones — Alaska Mining a Lottery

— Deceptive Placers — Weary Men Who Show No Nuggets — Ex-
perience of an Old Scotchman — Mining for Forty -Two Years —
A " Homestake " at Last — Poor Luck Still Followed Him —
Others Less Fortunate — Feeling of the Old Miners When They
Saw the Teuderfeet Taking Out Gold — A Little too Much —
Hardships of a Miner — His First Good Luck — Neal McArthur
and His Narrow Escapes — Scarcely Making a Living — Catching
at a Straw — Hard Conditions of a Prospector's Life — Troubles
after Gold is Found — The Massachusetts Man and His "Boy" —
Threatened by Claim- Jumpers — The Old Man Shot — The Boy
Handles the Gun and Turns Out to Be a Pretty Girl — A Heroic
Act — Queer People — An Old Slave from down in Georgia — His
Lucky Strike, ' .... 328

CHAPTER XXIV

INCIDENTS OF THE TRAIL — DEATH AND BURIAL OF A
BABY — A WOMAN'S THRILLING EXPERIENCES.

News of the Outside World — When the Ice Goes Out of the River —
It "Marks Time" — An Unpleasant Sight for a Hungry j\Ian —
Grub at Last — Happy Incident of a Yukon Honeymoon — Mrs.
McKay's Story — Death of a Baby — The Little Casket and the
Grave by Lake Lindeman — Misfortunes of John Matthews — His
Troubles Over — Impression of the Trail — Strong Men Dismayed
at the Outlook — Trying to Look Cheerful — Learning of the
Klondike Discoveries — Taken for a Man — Over the Summit —
Ravenous Appetites of the Men — Through the Canon and the

CONTENTS XXIU

Rapids — A "Woman's Experience — Clinging to the Boat in Terror
— In the Presence of Death — Quick Decisions of Gold-Seekers —
Many Unfit for Work in Alaska — The Situation Facing the
Tenderfoot — Where Shall He Find Gold? — "Did You Take
This for a Picnic?" 338

CHAPTEK XXV

THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MONEY-MAKING IN ALASKA
— THE COSTLY EXPERIENCE OF TWO TENDER-
FEET — APPALLING PRICE OF A SUPPER — A HORSE
MISSING WITH §49,000 IN GOLD.

A Cit}^ Laid out on a Bog — Natural Floral Displays — Lousetown —
A Cold Place in Winter — Fabulous Rise in the Price of Building
Lots — Expense of Log Cabins — Making Money Quickly — Expe-
rience of a Cigar Drummer — Clearing §20,000 in Twenty Days in
Real Estate Options — Better than Mining — Spring Water at Twen-
ty-five cents a Pail — Money Brought in by New Comers — Bonanza
Kings and Millionaires — Alec McDonald and His Investments —
" Satin Bags," the Italian Bonanza King — Indulging in a Square
Meal at a Dawson Restaurant — " Your Bill is §52 " — How it was
Itemized — Pack Horses with Gold Dust — One of the Horses
Missing — An Exciting Mystery — A Vision of Highway Robbers —
The Lost Horse Returns Safely — Just Stopped to Graze — Found
Dead with $30,000 — The Strain of Too Hard Work, . . 354

CHAPTER XXVI

DAWSON AND ITS INIQUITIES — GAMBLING PLACES, ^
THEIR DEVICES AND THEIR WAYS — NIGHT SCENES
IN THE DANCE HALLS — REAL LIFE IN NEW MINING
CAMPS.

Saloons and Gambling the Natural Products of New Mining Camps —
Strange Sights and Sounds — Gold Dust as Free as Water —

XXIV CONTENTS

Saloous aud Tlieir ' ' Brace Games " — Who Pay the Fiddlers —
Expeusive Society — " Stiid-Horse Poker" and High Stakes —
Methods at the Faro Table — Gold Bags in Pigeon Holes — Settling
Up — "Shorty's" Fatal Forgetfulness — Few Instances of Shoot-
ing Now — Ruling Prices in Saloons — The "Rake Off"— When
"Swiftwater Bill" Breaks Loose — Losing $7,500 in an Hour —
Appearance of Gambling Places — The Dance Halls and the
Women — Gallant Partners in Spiked Boots — An Occasional Free
Fight — Tobacco-Laden Atmosphere — Tired and Dishevelled
Women — More Orderly than Mining Camps in the Rockies —
Not a Hard, Reckless, Wide-Open Town — Harvard, Yale, and
Vassar Graduates, 370

CHAPTER XXVIl

A REFUGE FOR CRIMINALS — THE MINES MORE PROF-
ITABLE THAN SPORTING DEVICES — PURSUING A
FUGITIVE — A CHASE OF 25,000 MILES FOR AN ES-
CAPED MURDERER.

Too Many Sports for the Demand — The Arrest of Frank Novak, the
Murderer — History of His Crime — Enticing an Irish Farmer to
His Death — Searching for Novak — The Wrong Man Arrested —
Another Clue — It Takes the Detective to Vancouver — Searching
Resorts on the Coast — Every Ship's Crew Questioned — Requisi-
tion on the Governor of Alaska — Gone to the Klondike — Extradi-
tion Papers from Washington — Taken to Ottawa — Over the
Chilkoot in Pursuit — Passing the Fugitive without Suspecting
Him — The Pursued Follows the Pursuer — Arrival at Dawson —
Searching the Camps — Giving it Up — Arrest of the Murderer —
Returning by the Yukon — A Chase of 25,000 Miles, . . 382

CONTENTS XXV

CHAPTER XXVIII ^

WOMEN IN THE KLONDIKE — SOME ROMANTIC STORIES
— EXPERIENCE OF A WOMAN ON THE TRAIL —
HOW WOMEN HAVE MADE FORTUNES.

A Little Home Life — Two White Women in Camp the First Winter —
Mrs. Lippy the Pioneer — Mrs. Berry's Story of Her Journey — Be-
ginning to Despair — Starting for the Klondike — A Cabin Unfit to
Live In — Picking Up Nuggets of Gold — Wading in Mud Waist
Deep — Housekeeping No Joke — Arrival of a Plucky Little
Wife — Makes Her Home on a Scow — On Terra Firma at Last —
An Eye to Business — One Hundred Dollars a Month for Caring
for Two Children — In Doubt as to the Day of the Week — Dogs
and Mosquitoes, "but the Gold 's all Right " — Romantic Career of
a Woman — Joins the Stampede from Circle City — Cooking
for $15 a Day — Facing Claim-Jumpers — Making $12,000 in a Few
Weeks — Opportunities to Marry Rich Husbands — Gallantry of
the Men — What a Woman Should Wear, .... 392

CHAPTER XXIX

A SEASON OF WILD STAMPEDES — THE CURIOUS CON-
DITIONS ON SKOOKUM GULCH — NEW WONDERS
IN ALASKA DISTRICT — MY NARROW ESCAPE FROM
DEATH.

Spreading Out Over the Wild Country — Stampedes a Daily Occur-
rence— How they were Started — Enterprise of an Exhausted
Party — Returning from One Rush Only to Fall in with Another —
The Astounding Results on Hunker Creek — Sudden Rise of Skoo-
kum Gulch — How it was Discovered — Kicking Over Boulders
and Finding Gold — Bench Claims — Strike on Dominion Creek —
An Old German's Good Luck on Sulphur Creek — Endeavoring to
Keep it Quiet — The News Leaks Out — Another Great Stampede —
Joe and I Conclude to See for Ourselves — A Misstep and a Drench-

XXVI CONTENTS

iug in Ice Water — lDi""ed aud Exhausted — A Bliudiug Storm —
"Oh, for a Little Meat" — Joe Starts to Hunt for a Moose —
Returns and Finds Me Helpless — "I Guess I'm Done For" — A
Long Night and Day — Walking in a Circle — I Revive on Moose
Broth — My Last Prospecting Trip, 407

CHAPTEK XXX

STAMPEDERS WHO NEGLECTED TO RECORD CLAIMS

— CREEKS TOO NUMEROUS TO REMEMBER — POS-
SIBILITIES OF OTHER DISTRICTS — NEW GOLD
FIELDS.

Midnight Rush to Montana Creek — Staking by Torchlight — A Pugil-
ist on Hand — Locaters Rested after Their Journey — Their Stakes
Stealthily Removed and Others Substituted — The First to Record
Takes the Claim — Great Stampede to All Gold Creek — The
Rush for Bryant Creek — Intended to be Named for William J. Bryan
— Result of the Slip of the Pen — Neglecting to Record for Fear
Something Better Would be Found — Tenderfeet Frozen Out —
Waiting Three Days to Reach the Gold Commissioner — The
Country Staked for a Hundred Miles Around — Frauds Perpe-
trated— Impossibility for the Officers to Measure Claims during
the Wild Stampedes — Wild Race down the Frozen Yukon to
Buy a Claim — Old Miners' Belief in Stewart River — Gold Found
Everywhere — Difficulties of Prospecting on the Stewart — Some
of the Gold-Bearing Creeks Which May Be Heard From — In the
Same Belt as the Klondike, 420

CHAPTER XXXI

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KLONDIKE — THE CANA-
DIAN MOUNTED POLICE— CANADIAN REGULATIONS

— MAILS THROWN AWAY ON THE TRAIL — A QUES-
TION OF LIFE OR DEATH.

Attention Paid the Yukon District by Canadian Government after
Gold Discoveries — Concerned Over Loss of Revenue — Detach-

CONTENTS XXVll

ment of Police Sent Iq — When the Organization was Formed —
Its Principal Features — Officers and Constables — The Yukon
Territory — Powers of the Gold Commissioner — His Word Final
in All Cases as to Claims — Experience of a Seattle Man — How a
Double Sale was Quickly Untangled — Government Rights over
the Yukon Region — The Proposed Royalty — Indignation of the
Miners — A Meeting and a Protest — Possibilities of Trouble —
Uncertainty of the Mails — Difficulties of a Carrier — Mail Matter
Taken by Returning Miners and Thrown Away on the Trail — A
Matter of Life or Death, 431

OHAPTEE XXXII

THE SUDDEN RISE AND MAGICAL EXPANSION OF
SKAG WAY — CURIOUS SIGNS FOR THRIVING EN-
TERPRISES—THE DEBATING SOCIETY IN MRS.
MALONEY'S BOARDING TENT.

Seeking an Easier Pass than the Chilkoot — Why Gold-Seekers Began
to Stop at Skagway — A Peaceful Scene in July — The Original
Promoters Quickly Overwhelmed — A Thousand Tents and a
Thousand Pack Animals — Organizing the Town — Marvelous
Real Estate Business — How a Hotel Keeper Announced His
Facilities — A More Modest Announcement — "Any Old Thing
Bought and Sold " — Tons of Provisions Scattered on the Beach —
Saloons and Dance Halls — An Opening Night — The Symbol of
Law and Order — Herds of Gambling Men — " An Easy Graft " —
Greenhorns at Packing — Runaway Animals — Many Ludicrous
Scenes — The Serious Side — A Clergyman's Observations — The
Part tlie Women Played — Widow Maloney's Debating Society —
Respect for the Chair — Debating the Merits of Armies of the
World — Some Race Feeling — Mrs. Maloney Does Not Permit
Abuse of " Ould Ireland" — A Hundred Days of Growth —
" Biggest " Town in Alaska 446

XXVUl CONTENTS

1

CHAPTER XXXIII

DIFFICULTIES AND HORRORS OF THE SKAGWAY TRAIL
— PRECIPICES OVER WHICH HORSES TUMBLED —
A LIFE FOR A SACK OF FLOUR AND A LITTLE
BACON.

Au Impassable Trail — The Blockade — Stories Brought to Dawson —
Principal Features of the White Pass Route — Slippery Places for
Horses — Over Precipices into the River — Porcupine Hill —
Where Most of the Horses Were Lost — The Sight of a Life Time —
Death on Summit Lake — Efforts to Open the Trail — All Kinds
of Pack Animals — Scarcity of Fodder — Selling Hay and Throw-
ing in the Horses — The Big Marsh — Floundering in tlie Mud —
Thieving on the Trail — Looking for Pierre, the Frenchman —
Discovered with Stolen Goods — Appealing to Hearts of Stone —
Six Shots Sounding as One — The Limp Form of a Thief Hanging
bj' the Wayside — A Heap of Stones Cast on the Body — Chances
to Make Money on the Trail, 459

CHAPTER XXXIV

THREATENED FAMINE — STORES OF THE TRADING COM-
PANIES CLOSED — STEAMBOATS STUCK ON THE
YUKON FLATS — THE PERILOUS SITUATION REAL-
IZED.

Miners Hasten to Secure Provisions — Companies Fear Speculation in
Food — Eggs at $4 a Dozen — Good Mining Claims Traded for
Provisions — Candles at a Dollar Apiece — Waiting Three Hours to
File an Order — The Trading Companies Confer — Doling Out
Provisions — The Steamboats near Fort Yukon — Fruitless Efforts
to Get over the Bar — Captain Hansen's Efforts — Returning to
Dawson — Watching the River for the Steamboats — The Situation
Realized — Plenty of Whisky, but Little to Eat — Police without
Supplies — The Warehouses Threatened — Police Contemplate the

CONTENTS XXIX

Necessity of Seizing Provisions — Fancy Prices for Dogs — Mine
Owners Threatened by Failure to Pay Debts, . . . 476

CHAPTEK XXXV

THE GREAT EXODUS FROM DAWSON — DOWN THE
RIVER TO CIRCLE CITY AND FORT YUKON — SAD
FATE OF SOME OF THE EXILES — A BURIAL UNDER
THE ARCTIC SKY.

A Great Day iu Dawson — Drawing Lots to Determine Wlio Should
Go — The Restaurants All Closed — Effort to Go Up the River
Thirty-five Miles in Seven Days — The Party Finally Returns —
People Pouring iu While Others Were Pouring out — Arriving
With AVorthless Outfits or None at All — Swept By Dawson iu the
Running Ice — Petty Larceny Becomes Frequent — Food Scarce at
Circle City — Men Arrive from Circle City Badly Frozen — Suffer-
ing on the River — Exiles Badly Frozen — Sad Fate of Young
Anderson — Wounded, His Friends Dragged Him on a Rude
Sled — Dying within Sight of Circle City — Thawing an Arctic
Grave — The Funeral — Extracts from His Diary — Strong Miners
Weep — The Scarcity of Supplies — A Restaurant Price List — A
Fresh Supply of Caribou Meat — Curtailing the Work on the
Mines — Those Left Pull Through, 486

CHAPTER XXXVI

DISCOVERY OF GOLD ON MUNOOK CREEK — THE SUD-
DEN RISE OF RAMPART CITY — THRILLING EX-
PERIENCE AND LOSS OF LIFE ON THE MOUNTAIN
TRAIL.

A Rival to Dawson and the Klondike — American Territory Preferable
— Old Munook and Little Munook — Taking a Fortune from a
Small Hole — Stream Prospected Before — The First Excitement —

y

XXX CONTENTS

Stampedes from the Arriving Steamboats — Beginnings of Ram-
part City — Arrival of the Hamilton — Crew Stampedes and Takes
the Knives and Forks — A Literary Woman's Rush for a Claim —
Settling in the New Camp — High Prices for Claims — Taking
out $1,500 in Five Days — The Fever of Speculation — Wealth of
a Man with a House and Lot — High Price of Timber — The
Rough Trails — Fatal Experience of Two Yale Graduates —
Spending the First Night on Hoosier Creek — Taking Food for
Only One Day — A Terrible Night — Tucker Falls Exhausted —
Running for Help — Secured at Last — Returning to Find His
Companion Dead — Buried in the Wild Gulch — Situation of
Munook — High Value of Its Gold 496

CHAPTEK XXXVII

WE DECIDE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY — INCIDENTS OF
A HARD JOURNEY IN WINTER TO THE COAST —
THE DEATH OF JOE — MY ESCAPE.

Preparing for the Winter — Our Gold Dust — Returning to Dawson
We Realize the Food Situation — We are Unable to Secure Pro-
visions for the Winter — Selling Our Claims and Counting Our
Fortune — Down or Up the River ? — We Decide to Return for
a Good Outfit — Dogs an Expensive Luxury — Encountering
Wrecks — Difficulties at Lewis River — Picking up Tales of
Hardship and Suffering — Hardships of a Man with Poor Dogs —
A Young Man with Frozen Feet Left to Die in a Hut — A Young
Woman Rescued from Death — Lashed to a Sled — We Arrive at
the Canon — A Cry from Joe — Into the Icy Rapids — Last of
Poor Joe — I Sit Down and Cry — My Awful Predicament — Pro-
visions, but Nothing Else — A Sad and Lonely Journey — A Tent
Buried in the Snow — Saved! — " Got Anj^ Grub ? " — Kicking the
Dogs out of the Snow — Over the Chilkoot in a Blizzard —
Homeward Bound — "Poor Joe!" ..... SO.')

CONTENTS XXXI

CHAPTER XXXVIII

THE GREAT RUSH TO THE KLONDIKE AND ALASKA

— EXCITEMENT ALL OVER THE WORLD — PREP-
ARATION FOR A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE

— WHAT IT WILL MEAN IF ALL BECOME RICH.

At Seattle — The Stampede of 1898 — Nothing to Compare with It —
The Days of '49 Eclipsed — Transportation Engaged in Advance —
Fitting Up Vessels to Accommodate the Trade — " Klondicitis " —
The Topic of Conversation Everywhere — Preparing Outfits —
Returning Klondikers Besieged — Women and Children Have the
Fever — Old Gold-Seekers Aroused — All Sorts of Men Join in
the Rush — Great Exodus from California — Associations of
Women — Gold Dust on Exhibition — The Craze Reaches Jerusa-
lem— A Quarter of a Million of People — How It Appeared to
a Returned Klondiker — All After Gold — Money Spent for Out-
fits—What It May Mean — Doubling the Gold Production
in a Single Year — If All Make Fortunes Gold Will Become
Cheap, 519

CHAPTER XXXIX

RESOURCES OF THE YUKON VALLEY — POSSIBILITIES
OF QUARTZ MINING — COOK INLET, UNGA ISLAND
AND COPPER RIVER — THE FUTURE OF ALASKA.

Waiting for More Thorough Prospects — Comparative Smallnessof the
Klondike District — Room for a Million to be Lost in — The Klon-
dike all Located — The Government's Gold Map — Traces of Gold
Everywhere — Most of Alaska Unexplored — Some Comparisons
with Early Production in California — Difference in Conditions —
Obstacles to be Overcome — Possibly a Dozen Klondikes — Induce-
ments for Quartz Mining — A Belt of Rich Rock Thousands of
Miles Long — The Quartz Mines of Unga Island — A String of

XXXll CONTENTS

Islands that ]May bo Rich in Gold — A Test of Klondike Quartz —
Credit for the First Diseovery — Cook Inlet and Its Mines — The
Benefit of Waiting a Little Longer — The Copper River Country —
Stories of Rich Diggings — Friendly Indians with Mineral AVealth
—Points of Distribution — Unforeseen Results of Our Purchase of
Alaska — Its Future 534

CHAPTER XL

ADVICE TO GOLD-SEEKERS — THE IMPORTANCE OF
HAVING A GOOD OUTFIT — POINTS TO BE RE-
MEMBERED—WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO
DO.

Some Advantages in Not Being in a Hurry — Not a Poor Man's Country

— Good Advice from a United States Government Expert — A
Place for Strong Men and Those Who Can Afford to Lose —
Expenses Which Have to Be Met — The Cost of Cabins and Facili-
ties for Working Mines — One Thousand Dollars for Sluice Boxes

— The Advantage of Having Partners — Unv\ise to Take Less
Than a Year's Outfit — Suicide Cheaper in Lower Latitudes — It
Takes a Week to Dig a Grave — Times When Every Man Looks
the Picture of Distress — Sail North Only, in Good Vessels — How
to Mark Packages — Trunks an Inconvenience — Sugar and Salt as
Hard as Quartz — Tobacco as Good as Money on the Yukon — As
to Furs — Shot Guns Better Than Revolvers — Jack Dalton's Rules
for the Trail — Possibilities of Lo.siug a Toe or a Foot, . 548

TWO YEAliS

IN

THE KLONDIKE AND ALASIvAN
GOLD FIELDS

CHAPTEK I

MY BOYHOOD AND EARLY LIFE — WHAT LED ME TO
ADOPT THE LIFE OF A GOLD-SEEKER — WHY MY
EYES WERE TURNED TOWARDS ALASKA.

Boyhood on a Vermont Farm — Scanty Rewards of Toil — Forgetting
the Cows —My Father Has Ambitions for Me — I Am Sent to School
but Am Negligent in Study — The Mystery of Inheritance — Book
Knowledge — I Choose a Business Career in the City — Behind a
Counter in a Dry-goods Store — My Unhappy Lot — Sighing for
the Great West — Temptation to Break Away — It Finally Over-
comes Me — News of Wonderful Finds of Gold — I Take My Little
Belongings and Arrive in Chicago — Life as a Brakeman — Falling
in with Gold Miners — Something about Nuggets — A Tramp's
Luck — The Creede Rush — Cripple Creek — Two Irish Boys and
Their Mountain Patch — Meeting Joe— Alaska for the Gold-Seeker.

THIS is the plain story of one wlio began life in a little
township of Vermont about thirty-two years ago,
and who, several times during the past two years,
has been dangerously near losing it in a search for gold
along the glacier-bound coasts of Alaska, in the frozen
regions of the Yukon, and in the rich gulches of the Klon-
dike.

It is of the observations, adventures, and experiences of

the last two years that this story is written. That of the

first thirty may be briefly told, for it is commonplace —

the story of a country boy upon whose future career his

'3 (33)

34 BOYHOOD ON A NEW ENGLAND FARM

struggling parents built great expectations only to be cruelly
disappointed. That is usual enougli, for parental fondness
ahvays indulges extravagant hopes in a youth whose own
more moderate expectations are seldom realized, even after
his hardest struggles. If at last there comes a time when,
in some measure, their fond anticipations are realized, they
may be sleeping in their narrow graves. My parents were
industrious and poor, a combination of circumstances of
which life affords many instances, especially upon remote
and somewhat stubborn New England farms. A boy grow-
ing up in such surroundings could not fail to be impressed
with the scanty rewards of the most unremitting toil.

But any boy finds sources of delight in his surroundings,
be they never so poor and unpromising, and, though early
enlisted in some of the necessary work of the farm, such as
replenishing the wood-pile and churning the cream, my
inclinations were always to wander in the woods or over the
meadows, chasing the squirrels, or endeavoring to drive
the woodchucks from their holes; so that many times when
sent off on the mountainside after the cows, I often entirely
forgot my errand in the pursuit of some chance game or
childish fancy. The admonitions of my father on such oc-
casions never seemed to do any good. Seldom was I able
to enter with persistence and interest iiito any useful piece
of work.

But for one thing, however, I should probably have re-
mained there on the farm like so many others, who, not
having looked beyond their own narrow horizons, settle
down to think their little world is like all the rest. Though
very poor, my father entertained high ambitions for me,
and he determined, at whatever sacrifice, to provide me with
an education. He never ceased to regret what he himself

YOUTHFUL DREAMS 35

lacked in this respect, and fondly hoped that, if I were
blessed with a little learning, I would fill a place in the
world of which he would be proud, and that his declining
years would be years of happiness and contentment.

So at the age of fifteen I was sent away to an academy
in Massachusetts, and immediately my ideas began to
undergo a marvelous change. I became possessed by a de-
sire to break away from the limitations of a routine life and
rush into the great world of which I thought I saw a
glimpse. But I had no definite purpose. I had not the
least idea of what I should do if I entered the world which
my imagination so brilliantly pictured. My disposition re-
mained the same. It was simply let loose in a wider field,
like an unbroken mustang. Anytliiug like hard study was
out of my line, and I seldom engaged in it. I would sit for
hours and hear the city boys tell stories, would read tales of
wonderful adventure, forgetting entirely to go to bed.
Little by little my taste in reading improved, and I wan-
dered about aimlessly in the fields of literature, not neglect-
ing the great masters. But I never studied the lessons
staked out by the teachers like so many narrow garden plats,
I knew that my low marks were a se^'ere trial to my parents,
and it was painful to me, when I came to think of it and
realize what a sacrifice they were making in my behalf. At
times I would resolve to do better, and would try to study
hard, but it was no use. My mind (quickly fled away into
more congenial fields.

It seems to me that it is unkind to hold a man too rigidly
responsible for the mixture he finds in his nature. We are
largely controlled by inherent qualities of which it is dif-
ficult to rid ourselves. These innate characteristics make
us what we are, and I suppose that is why we are oblivious

36 A father's ambition thwarted

to our own faults. I know now that my dis])osition has
always been that of a wanderer, though I cannot under-
stand why I .>!;hould have inherited &ueh a nature from ray
parents. Possibly it may be explained upon the principle
that the chemical union of substances results in combina-
tions surprisingly different from the originals. It may be
that a person can inherit a nature widely different from that
of either parent, and still be the natural coml)ination of their
natures.

[Notwithstanding my neglect of prescribed studies, I
managed somehow to squeeze through the curriculum, and
I was declared to be fitted for college, but really I was fit for
nothing which had any definite aim in it. I had extracted
from the books I had so diligently read a certain amount of
information which, for the right ])erson, would doubtless
have been more useful than all that the hardest students had
extracted from their text-books and teachers, but it was ap-
parently of little use to me. ]\Iy fi'lher had hoped that I
would develop a determination to enter the ministry. He
sat in his pew every Sunday, looked up to the minister and
imagined me in the pulpit, eloquently holding forth upon
decrees and judgments, while the people hung breathlessly
upon my words. But I had no more taste for theology than
for politics, which I entirely ignored. Prom my reading
I had formed the opinion that a wise Providence would con-
trol the world in its own way, without regard to systems of
theology, and that our civil government would somehow
" run itself," no matter which party was in power. I was
quite willing to let others expound theology, or struggle for
political prizes. My nature was different, and my purpose,
or lack of it, might be summed up, as nearly as it could be
summed up at all, in the words " aimless adventure."

DULL DAYS IN A DRY GOODS STORE 37

So I adroitly begged off from going to college, explain-
ing to my father that, even if I had any inclination in that
direction, I knew tliat he conld not afford it, and that it
would be better for me to go into business. I had no ambi-
tion in that direction either, but I had the unpleasant real-
ization that I must do something for a living.

Thus it happened that at twenty-two I was behind a
counter in a big dry-goods store in Boston. It took very
little time for me to discover that there was no romance in
the life of a dry^goods clerk. The lequirements were alto-
gether too definite to suit my nature. All my inclinations
were to drift about, to find adventure, to see life in its
various phases, and there I was day after day for long hours
in a crowded corner of a great store, answering myriads of
questions, some of which I thought the women who asked
them knew better how to answer than I, and calling for a
cash boy who loitered until my customers had become im-
patient and upbraided me. Variety, there was none. I
made my board, and a little more, because I paid very little
for my board and received accordingly.

My Sunday respites brought me little consolation, for
though they afforded me temporary delight in wandering
off into the country, they only served to sharpen my appetite
for greater freedom. I used to v/ish that a war would
break out so that I could enlist and give my nature vent in
an atmosphere of gunpowder. Often I thought of joining
the recruits to the regular army, bnt upon investigation I
concluded that there was little for a soldier to do except to
waste his time in a dull routine.

To a spirit like mine the possibilities of the great West
naturally appealed. I had very little idea what any part
of it was like, and that is i^-^ubtless one of the reasons why I

38 AN ENGROSSING SUBJECT

longed to see it for myself. It made no particular diiference
to what part of it I went, nor was it essential that I should go
for any wcll-dctined ])ni'pos('. That would take care of
itself; indeed, I disliked to be hampered by certainties. I
knew I was not in my right place. Yf hat business had I, a
big six-footer, built on Vermont lines, broad, muscular, and
tough, dallying behind a dry -goods counter! stuck up in a
corner like a house plant when I sighed for the free open air,
the winds, and the storm.

I clung resignedly to my unpleasant work, however,
saving all I could at many a bitt-er sacrifice of my inclina-
tions, for I had sufficient wisdom to realize the risks of rush-
ing empty-handed into regions of vv^hich I knew little, and
where no one knew me. I was sick and discouraged at
times over the monotonous routine of my daily duties.

In such papers as I allowed mvself to buy I always read
wnth great interest and care every scrap of information or
news about the Great West, and like many others, even with
a disposition less restless than mine, I Tvas deeply impressed
wdth the stories of rich strikes in the mining regions and the
fortunes made in what seemed an incredibly short time. I
began to read all I could lay my hands on relating to mines
and mining, and to study, with a zeal which I had never
shown before, the science of that great industry ; thus acquir-
ing a store of information that would be very valuable if
ever a time should come when it could be Ijrought into con-
nection with practical experience, but worth little without it.

In the spring of 1880 came the stories of the ex-
citement caused along the Pacific coast by the discoveries
in Lower California. During IMarch an average of six hun-
dred men a day rushed to the mines in the Santa Clara dis-
trict, about one hundred and twenty miles south of San

MAKING MY WAY WESTWARD 39

Diego. One of tlie first workers, so the stories ran, washed
out fonr thousand dollars' worth of gold in four hours, and a
Mexican digger took out one thousand five hundred dollars
in two days in a space eight feet square.

As I read these and similar tales, the temptation became
too great for me to resist. I had as yet saved only a small
amount of money, but I had enough to take me a part of the
way, and then, I thought, I might secure employment
further west, and a little nearer the region of the Pacific
Coast. So, after one of my hardest, most exasperating days
behind the counter, I resigned my position, and for the first
time in many months walked to my boarding place with a
light heart. After i-eceiving what was due me at the store,
and buying a ticket for Chicago, I packed my small belong-
ings in a valise, and with my accumulated capital, about
thirty dollars, in my pocket, westward I took my unde-
termined way.

Considerable time was lost in an unsuccessful search for
employment at Chicago, and gradually my small capital
became greatly reduced. I avoided the dry-goods stores
and of course knew little about any other line of business.
My eyes were still turned westward, and quite naturally I
haunted the railway depots and offices until destitution
finally compelled me to engage as a brakeman on a freight
train on one of the leading lines ninning West from
Chicago. It was a hard life, and yet I enjoyed some
features of it. Even my imagination had not portrayed the
Great "West as I found it, with its broad stretches of prairie,
its busy cities and towns, its teeming harvests, and thrifty
homes.

Gradually I worked my way westward, constantly shift-
ing from one division of the railroad to another, each tend-

40 "FELLERS AS STRUCK IT RICH"

ing still farther west than the last, till one evening 1 fonnd
myself in Colorado Springs. Seeking out a moderate-
priced hotel, I entered and found myself in an eating-room
where a number of men were drinking and smoking, most
of them engaged in earnest conversation. Seating myself
at a ^'acant table, I ordered as good a meal as I thought was
warranted by my rather scanty funds.

" Yes, thar's some mighty big stories 'bout fellers as
struck it rich," I heard the old man who sat at the next table
say to his companions, who were all considerably younger,
" but I'm only tellin' what I've seen to be true. One day,
when I was in Shasta county, 'bout fifteen years back, three
fellers that looked like Frenchmen druv into town, and
droppin' into a hardware store to get somethin' or other,
asked the proprietor whar was a likely place to mine. They
looked tenderfoot like, and I guess they was. The pro-
prietor kinder careless like, ye know, p'int-ed north, and
said ' Go over to Spring Creek.' Wal, sir, they went, and
after prospecting around they located a claim a little ways
up the stream, an' in a few days one o' them durn'd French-
men picked up a nugget wutli over six thousand.

" You don't find secli nuggets as them in these days,"
chimed in one of the younger men as he took out a roll of
bills and beckoned to the waiter. He had a swaggering
manner, and it was easy to see that the others regarded him
with a degree of deference.

" How big d' ye say yourn w^as, Sandy? '^ asked the old
man.

" Only fort,y-eight ounces, but it was enough, so I sold
the claim for big money to the Denver parties."

" Wal, ye say, Sandy," resumed the old man, " that big
strikes ain't made tliese days, but it ain't so long ago when

A BIG NUGGET 41

I was clown on the Gila that I heard of a lucky find a little
way ofi^ the Southern Pacific in Californy, Two fellers
tranipin' up the coast got put off a freight train at Calliente,
and they started to hoof it to Bakersville. In two days,
back they came to Calliente with a lump of gold and quartz.
The boys thought they might have robbed a camp, and
p'raps killed the miner to get it. But they told how they
was goin' 'bout in the dry bed of an old stream not far from
the Bealeville placer camp, in search of wood for a fire, and
stumbled on the gold. They had ofi'ered to sell it to a rail-
road man before they came back to Calliente, but he sus-
pected the strangers, and wouldn't bargain. Wal, sir, that
lump was sold afterwards in Los Angeles for two thousand
seven hundred and fifty dollars. It weighed 116 ounces.
The boys rushed into that old stream but they never found
any more big nuggets."

I forgot my supper, hungry as I was. The effect of
such conversation upon a tenderfoot with but a little silver
in his pocket, and who was impatient to send comforting
news to his far-away home in Vermont, may be imagined.
'^ Houghing it," and "striking it rich," was just my ideal
then. I had tried roughing it somewhat, and all I needed
was to strike it rich.

" Excuse me, gentlemen," I said, slowly turning my
chair, and somewhat nervously facing the group, " but I am
down this way to ^ee what I can do in a mining country,
and I am interested in your talk. Is there any chance any-
where around here for a fellow like me to strike in? "

They looked at me critically for a moment, and the
young fellow who seemed to be spending tliQ^money, said:
" Stranger, you look all right, and I guess you are. Say,
stranger, where you from? "

42 FIRST RUSH TO THE GOLD-FIELDS

I told tliem that 1 caiiic from jSTew England, and tlicy
glanced at my clothes, which,' notwithstanding the rough
wear of the ]iast few weeks, were not at all bad. At this
the man whom they called " Sandy " informed me that he
had just sold one of his claims, but he had another that could
be bought for fair money, and his companions also began to
expatiate upon the value of claims they would dispose of.
I had to confess, sorely against my inclination, that my
capital did not permit me to buy claims, but I would like to
get work in a mining region, and trust to my luck.

It seems that Sandy had recently come in from the wild
regions about Willow Creek, and a rush was then just begin-
ning toward the place where Creede made his discovery. I
listened eagerly to the stories of fabulous fortunes and sud-
den wealth narrated by these prospectors. To my over-
wrought imagination it seemed easy to become rich Where
gold was so abundant. The result was that the next day I
started with a party of a dozen others on my first rush to
gold fields. Thus it was that I began to supplement my
store of book information about mining with the details of
practical experience. These details were not unlike those
of others in the mining districts of the Rockies, and the
stor}^ has often been told. I worked in the mines till I
secured a good understanding of mining as it was there con-
ducted. I was grub-staked and spent much of my time
wandering over the mountains, along creeks and streams,
and through gulches. It was on the whole an agreeable
life, but I failed to make a strike. That is also a story
which has often been told.

I^ot long afterwards came the rush to C^ripple Creek,
where a cowboy had found in Poverty Gulch ore which,
when taken to Colorado Springs, was found to yield two

FINDING PAY-ROCK 43

luuidred and forty dollars to tlie ton. Those going in early
found ore of even higher value. After the Buena Vista
mine was sold, the attention of the entire country was at-
tracted to Cripple Creek, and the great rush to that now
famous district began. They poured in over the mountaiu
tops and through the gulches, and claims were staked in all
directions, regardless of the character of the rock. Many
hardships were endured in the early days of the opening of
this district, but a rough life proved not at all distaste-
ful to me, though I met with no marked success. Still,
there was always the chance, and, in some notable cases,
men, after prospecting and suffering many hardslii]3s with-
out success, had, when on the point of packing their traps
and returning to their former employments, stumbled upon
ore that made them rich within a few months.

One of the notable discoveries coming some little time
after the rush was that of the Portland mine. Two Irish
boys from Portland, ]\[e., owned a small patch of poor land
which they did not know exactly what to do with. One
day a miner of some experience came along and asked what
they would give if he found pay-rock for them. They
offered a third. The miner found it that afternoon, and in
time that third interest became worth millions.

I kept on prospecting, always buoyed up by the hope of
making a great discovery that would eclipse all others and
yield me a princely fortune.

In the fall of 1S05 I fell in with another prospector
about my age, named Joseph Meeker. There was a certain
compatibility in our dispositions and tastes, and we soon
became fast friends. Joe had originally come from I^orth
Carolina, but he had spent a year in Alaska, and had been
mining for several years in Colorado, but with no better sue-

44 A STARTLING PROPOSITION

cess than had attended my efPorts. lie never grew tired of
talking ahont ALaska. It had a strange fascination for him,
and he would return to the subject again and again. We
were sitting close to the fire in the cabin one night when Joe
suddenly inquired how much money I had.

" I've saved about eight hundred dollars," I replied,
wonderingly. "Why?"

" I've got 'bout seven hundred dollars," he said, " and
I'll tell you why I ask. You are strong and hearty. You
ought to stand it, and I know I can. The only place to
hunt for gold now is in Alaska. I was up there two years
ago, worked in the Tread well mills awhile, and in the sum-
mer crossed over to the upper Yukon. There's gold there
in river banks, but the ground's frozen twenty feet deep,
and the climate is beastly in the winter. I got caught on
the Yukon late in the fall, and had a hard time getting back.
I didn't have any outfit, and when I came out I was as near
dead as I could be. But I believe that's the place for us,
and if we put our money together it will be enough to buy
a good outfit and pay our way to Alaska, and next spring we
can go in all right. How does it strike you? "

The proposition startled me. Alaska was a long way
off, and it was comparatively an unknown country. I was
already far from home and kindred. Besides I was not so
sanguine of success as my companion appeared to be, and
mining in a country where the ground was " frozen twenty
feet deep " did not at first impress me as a particularly at-
tractive scheme. I hesitated, but only for a few moments;
for, impelled by my restless and unsatisfied love of adven-
ture, and the alluring possibilities in a new land from
whence rumors of gold had already come, I said, " I'll go."

CHAPTER II

HO FOR ALASKA ! — EXTENT OF OUR GREAT TERRITORY —
GETTING RExVDY FOR THE START — OUR OUTFIT
AND WHAT IT CONSISTED OF.

My Meager Ideas of the Territory — Joe Draws on His Store of Infor-
mation — Vast Extent of the Country — Dull and Dirty Natives —
A Race of Shirks — Habits of the Dogs — Navigation of the Yukon

— Mo.s(iuitoes That "Kill Bears" — Story of the Miners' Search
for Gold on the Yukon — A Pioneer Prospecting Party — Some of
the Early Finds — Gold Every vphere — The Klondike Moose Past-
ure— Despised by the Gold-Seekers — Coarse Gold on Forty-Mile
Creek— The Rise of the Town — Sixty Mile — Miller and Glacier
Creeks — A Missionary Picks up a Nugget — Founding of
Circle City — My Partner Becomes Impatient — Making Our Plans

— We Proceed to San Francisco — Buying an Outfit — What It
Consisted of — Our Medicine Chest — Over a Ton and a Half to
Carry — A Peep into the Future — Ominous Suggestions.

ALASKA was about the only country of the world into
which my venturesome imagination had not taken
me. I knew that the United States bought it of
Russia in 1867 for less than half a cent an acre, but I had
never figured from the total purchase price how many acres
it made. It was something of a revelation to me, there-
fore, when Joe, who was an exceedingly well-informed man
in many ways, and particularly upon Alaska, convinced me
that this territory was nine times the size of T^ew England,
twice the size of Texas, and three times that of California;
that it had a coast line of over eighteen thousand miles,

(45)

46 OUR WONDERFUL TERRITORY

greater tlian that of all the rest of the United States, and
that, measuring from the most eastern point of Maine to
the most western point of the Aleutian Ishuids, wliieh ex-
tend over into the eastern hemisphere, the half-way point
of the United States would be a little west of San Francisco.
Joe had a fund of general information concerning the
country. T\Tiile I had been dreaming vaguely of the Great
AVest, he had been looking with quiet detennination to-
wards that land from which he had w'itli so much difficulty
only recently escaped, and in spite of that severe experience
he had been working hard to save money enough to enable
him to return and prospect mth safety on the Yukon.
While it was generally known that the first lease of two
tiny islands retiu'ued to the United States Treasury a sum
equal to the purchase money, and that the salmon industry
had yielded a like sum for the fii^t six yeai^s of its establish-
ment, the outside world had as yet heard very little about
its gold resources. Summer pleasure-seekei-s had turned
back at the Muir Glacier, which is over a thousand miles
south of Point Barrow, and had rarely ventured as far as
the Aleutian Islands, which stretch to a point two thousand
miles west of Sitka. A few explorers had wandered over
some of the rough Indian trails, and Ijad nearly lost their
lives in climbing the snow-capped mountain peaks. For
several years poorly maintained trading posts had been col-
lecting furs from the Indians, and here and there over the
vast region were mission stations which had produced little
effect on the dull and dirty natives. Dogs and Indians
were the beasts of burden, the dogs being far superior, for.
though bom thieves, they would work under the lash ; but
the Indians were lazy, and, after exacting the most extrava-
gant prices for packing over the trails, were quite likely

VORACIOUS INDIANS AND MOSQUITOES 47

to throw down their packs and return home, leaving the
explorer helpless in the desolate regions. As all contracts
with these Indians included their keeping, and as no one had
had ever discovered a limit to their appetites when others
provided the food, the poor explorer usually found that the
Indian packers would cat up all they could carry before go-
ing far into the interior. At home they would live frugally
on nothing but fish, some of it very ancient, for most of
them were too lazy to catch any till driven to it by gnawing
hunger. When carrying a pack for a white man they were
rarely able to lift an ounce till they had eaten two or three
pounds. Then they would trot along with a pack that no
white man could stagger under.

What means of navigation existed on the Yukon were
exceedingly primitive. Running two thousand miles
across Alaska and into the Northwest Territory, into which
the head tributaries stretched five hundred miles further,
navigation could hardly be attempted before July, and
towards the last of September the river generally began to
freeze. The quickest way to reach the headwaters of the
Yukon was overland from the coast, but one could do little
more than take his life in his hands, to say nothing of pro-
visions, if he ventured from the trails, which were full of
dangers, while in the summer the mosquitoes, Joe em-
phatically said, had been known to " kill bears." In five
months the country receives as much sunshine, or rather
daylight, as California receives in eight, and in seven
months as much night as California receives in nearly a year
and a half.

" But there's gold there," said Joe. " And T know it."

It was the erold that he was thinking of, and though I

was not unmindful of it either, I could not help but weave

48 ALASKA'S FIRST PROSPECTORS

fanciful pictures of life in a little-known country reputed
to be full of dangers, and hence attractive to one of my dis-
position. To me it was a pleasant picture to contemplate.
I knew nothing about the reality. What little was known
of the mineral possibilities of the country in the fall of 1895
was fairly well known by my partner, who had industri-
ously sought information from every possible source.

It is a curious fact, though an experienced miner will
not recognize it as such, that the Yukon and the streams
which tlow into it have been prospected for years. The
reader must not suppose that all one has to do is to come to
the right spot to find gold staring him in the face. Expe-
rienced prospectors traveled many times over some of the
richest rocks in Colorado l>efore their treasures were discov-
ered, and the conditions along the frozen banks of the Yukon
are even more misleading, as will be seen later. But
as early as thirty years ago, even before the seventies, gold
w^as known to exist in the beds of the streams which empty
into the Yukon. Only a few prospectors ventured into
these forbidding regions and they found small returns for
their hardships and drudgery. It appears that the first real
prospecting was done by George Holt, who crossed either the
Chilkoot or the White Pass in 1878 and found coarse gold in
the Hootalinkwa river. In 1880 a party of twenty-five,
headed by Edward Bean, found bars yielding $2.50 a day on
a small tributary of the Lewis. In subsequent years gold
was found on the Big Salmon, Pelly, Hootalinkwa, Lewis,
and Stewart rivers. When Lieutenant Schwatka made his
trip down the Yukon in 1883 he made the acquaintance of
Joseph Ladue, wdio was years after to become famous as
the founder of Dawson. Ladue was digging about persist-
ently, but he found little in the holes which he sunk with

FAILURE AND DISAPPOINTMENT 49

the greatest difficulty. Scliwatka also heard of others who
had been prospecting many seasons with poor results. Still
there were traces of gold almost everywhere, and a miner
knows that where there are traces of the precious metal
a source of supply must exist somewhere.

Early in the seventies there were miners working at the
headwaters of the Pelly River, near the Cassiar Mountains,
and, as will be seen by the map, near where some of the
feeders of the Pelly and the Mackenzie approach each
other. Some of them had learned of tlie existence of a
large lake beyond the Cassiar and made an effort to reach
it, but failed and returned disgusted. In 1872, two Irish-
men named Harper and Hart ; Fitch, a Canadian ; Kanselar,
a German; and Wilkinson, an Englishman, believing that
gold existed on the Mackenzie because it had been found
in some quantities on some of the principal streams, started
on a prospecting trip. At Laird River they fell in with
two men named ]\[cQuesten and Mayo, who were also pros-
pecting. Wilkinson determined to try his luck there, but
the others continued, and finally by way of Bell's River and
the Porcupine came to Fort Yukon, an old supply point
at the junction of the Porcupine and Yukon and close to
the Arctic Circle. There they found an Indian who had
some native copper which he said had come from White
River, 400 miles up the Yukon.

They determined to work their way up there, and did
eventually, but were stopped near the White River in Sep-
tember by ioe. They built a cabin and during the winter
prospected for the copper, but found none. By spring
their provisions had run out and they started down the river
again, prospecting as they went. They found indications
of gold near the mouth of Stewart River, but could take

50 SOME EARLY PIONEERS

no advantage of this till thev had obtained provisions.
They had to make their way nearly 2,000 miles to St. Mi-
chael, near the mouth of the Yukon, and on their way back
met McQuestin and Mayo, Avho had meanwhile gone into
the service of the Alaska Commercial Company.

When about -iOO miles uj) the river and near the mouth
of the Koyukuk they encotmtered an Indian having some
gold which he said had come from the mountains in that
vicinity. So they spent two years prospecting in that re-
gion, but with no results. Meantime, McQuestin and Mayo
had gone up the Yukon and established Fort Reliance, six
and a half miles from the stream which is now known as the
Klondike. Harj^er and his companion joined them a little
later and formed a trading partnership. The region near
this stream was kno^\m only as a fishing and hunting ground,
and no one thought of prospecting there then, for the beds
were formed of uninviting dirt and nothing but surface
prosi>ecting was done. Harper had written concerning
the traces of gold to some of his old comrades in British
Columbia, where he had mined for years, and some of them
made their way to the new diggings. Early in the eighties
gold was found in the StCAvart River, and it was about this
time that rich quartz fields were discovered in the vicinity
of Juneau, on the coast, and the attention of the outside
world was mainly directed towards them. In 1886 Har-
per erected a trading post at the mouth of the Stewart fnr
the benefit of the thirty or more minei*s who had been in-
duced to go into these regions, but in the same year coarse
gold was fotmd on Forty ]\rile Creek. Coarse gold is the
miner's delight, and as soon as the discovery became known,
the St-ewart River diggings, the product of which in 1885
and 1886 was estimated at $300,000, were deserted for

SLUICING WITH A STEAMBOAT ENGINE 51

Forty Mile Creek, and Harper moved his trading post to
that point; this was the beginning of the settlement of that
name. The same year the Klondike stream, which then
appeared on the maps as Deer Eiver, was prospected for
several miles, but no gold was found. On the other hand,
gold was found nearly the whole length of Forty Mile
River and in all its gulches. The news of this discovery
was brought out by Tom Williams, who died at Dyea from
the effects of cold and exhaustion endured in crossing the
Chilkoot pass. Flis information caused several hundred
men to go to Forty Mile from the Pacific Coast.

The only mining done on the Stewart was on the bars
of the river. The bench and bank bars were all timbered
and frozen so that to work them it was thought would en-
tail a resort to hydraulic mining, for which there was no ma-
chinery in the country. During the fall of 1886 three or
four miners combined and got the owners of one of the
little river steamboats to allow the use of her engines to
work pumps for sluicing with. The boat was hauled up
on the bar, her engines detached from the wheels and made
to drive pumps manufactured on the ground, thus supply-
ing water for a set of sluice boxes. With this crude ma-
chinery the miners cleared $1,000 in less than a month, and
paid an equal sum to the o^vners of the boat as their share.

But scarcely anything was heard of these discoveries
by the outside world, though the Canadian agent reported
them to his government. Few miners were there, the sea-
son for work was short, and the little gold which came down
attracted no attention, while many rich mines were being
discovered in Colorado and California.

Not long after the discovery of gold in Forty Mile
Creek a few miners crossed the narrow divide which sep-

52 A MISSIONARY PICKS UP A NUGGET

arates the licadwaters of Forty ]\lile from those of Sixty
Mile and discovered gold on Miller and Glacier creeks.
The former had already been prospected three different
times and given up as worthless, but it turned out to be the
richest creek in the region and enjoyed that reputation for
yeai's. In 1891 gold was found on the headwaters of Birch
Ci-^ek, which flows into the Yukon a.bout forty miles below
Fort Yukon. According to the story which came down
the coast, this discovery was due to Archdeacon ]\[acdonald,
a Canadian missionary on the Peel River, who in connection
%nth his missionary labors traveled over much of the
country. In coming from the Tanana River he picked up
a nugget in one of the gulches of Birch Creek. He told
some of the miners and a party made a search. While they
failed to find the place answering the missionary's descrip-
tion they found gold. This Avas the beginning of Circle
City, on the banks of the Yukon, about 200 miles below
Forty Mile and only a few miles by portage from Birch
Creek. During 1893 the Klondike stream was again pros-
pected, but nothing was found. But Circle City attracted
to it many of the old miners who had had poor success on
other creeks and most of the newcomers. These, however,
were very few until 1894.

My partner had learned the stoiy of some of these dis-
coveries while at Juneau and during his unsuccessful ven-
ture inland. He returned to California in the hopes of
providing a good outfit, but was obliged to prospect and
work in the mines, trusting to luck to raise the necessary
money. Attracted by the stories which came down, several
hardy miners from California went up to the Yukon regions
in 1894, but Joe remained behind and worked hard to se-
cure the means which he had learned by observation and

PLANNING A NEW ENTERPRISE 63

experience were required to prospect in such a wild country.
].ate in the summer of 1895, a lot of gold came down to San
Francisco from the mouth of the Yukon, and for the first
time Alaska began to attract a lively attention in the min-
ing camps of the Rocky Mountains and along the Pacific
Coast. Joe was greatly excited but knew it was too late
that year to venture safely into the new El Dorado. When
we became fast friends he saw the advantages of forming
a partnership with me in the enterprise.

It was then November, and we wished to be ready to
start by the first of March. He said it would be no use for
us to try to start earlier, for owing to the difficulties of travel
before the Yukon broke up no time would be gained, while
a good deal of needless hardship would be incurred. It
was fortunate for me that I had a companion who knew
something of the route and what to expect. It would have
1icen just like me to start in with little thought of pro-
visions and with an inadequate outfit of clothing and sup-
jilies. AVe worked along till the end of the year making
our plans, and early in January we bade good-bye to Colo-
rado and started for San Francisco to secure our outfit and
passage.

I have seen many statements of the outfit a man needs
in going into the Alaska mining regions, but I have never
seen one that enumerated all tlie things which a man wants
after he is there. It must be borne in mind that he is going
to a place which is practically cut off from the outside
world for the greater ]>art of the year and which is very
little better, as far as supplies are concerned, at any time.
All this may be remedied some time, but I was going in
before the attention of the commercial world had been
greatly attracted to the region. While one with money

54

A YEAR S PROVISIONS

enough in his pocket can travel all over the United States
and want for nothing, when he crosses the mountain passes
or goes up the Yukon to the interior of Alaska he needs to
have with him all that he is likely to want for a year. He
may want it very badly and in vain, and still have any
amount of gold in his pockets.

We secured a cheap boarding place near the wharves
in San Francisco and soon set to work to collect such articles
as Joe's experience and the best information we could ob-
tain from every possible source convinced us would be
necessary. After taking out of our capital what was
needed for passage, living expenses till March, and quite
a sum for expenses on the way, we concluded we
might with the remainder purchase enough clothing
and pi"ovisions for a year, or more, besides the necessary
hardware.

I have a list of some of the things we purchased and
others I have sup]ilied from memory. The following is
about what we took in the way of ]irovisions:

Flour,

800 lbs.

Bacon, ....

300 lbs

Corn Meal,

50 "

Dried Beef,

60 "

Rolled Oats, .

80 "

Dry Salt Pork,

50 "

Pilot Bread, .

50 "

Roast Coffee, .

50 "

Baking Powder,

20 "

Tea, . . ' .

25 "

Yeast Cakes, .

6 "

Condensed Milk,

50 "

Baking Soda, .

6 "

Butter, hermetically sealed

40 "

Rice,

100 "

Salt,

40 "

Beans,

200 "

Ground Pepper,

3 "

Split Peas,

50 "

Ground ]\Iustard, .

2 "

Evaporated Potatoes,

50 "

Ginger, ....

2 "

Evaporated Onions,

.20 "

Jamaica Ginger,

3 "

Beef Extract, .

3 "

Evaporated Vinegar,

12 "

Evaporated Apples,

50 "

Matches

25 "

Evaporated Peaches,

50 "

Candles, 2 boxes contaiuin

3

Evaporated Apricots,

50 "

240 candles,

80 "

A GOLD SEEKER S OUTFIT

55

Dried Raisins, .

. 20 lbs.

Laundry Soap,

. 15 lbs.

Dried Figs,

. 20 "

Tar Soap,

. 5 "

Granulated Sugar, .

. 150 "

Tobacco, .

. 30 "

In the hardware line our outfit was of a more miscel-
laneous character and as complete as we knew how to make
it, and everything came in handy. We purchased as fol-
lows :

1 Hand Saw.

2 Hatchets.

2 Shovels.

1 Whip Saw.

30 pounds of Nails (assorted sizes).

2 Scissors.

-^ dozen assorted Files.

Fish Lines and Hooks.

2 Handled Axes.

1 Gold Scale.

2 Draw Knives.

1 Chalk Line.

1 Jack Plane.

I'Measuring Tape.

1 Brace and 4 Bits.

2 Money Belts.

3 Chisels, assorted.

2 Cartridge Belts.

2 Butcher Knives.

2 Gold Dust Bags (buckskin)

2 Hunting Knives.

2 Pairs Snow Glasses.

2 Pocket Knives.

6 Towels.

2 Compasses.

1 Caulking Iron.

1 Set Awls and Tools.

Knives and Forks.

150 feet of |-inch Rope.

Table and Teaspoons.

1 Medicine Case.

2 Large Spoons.

15 pounds of Pitch.

2 Bread Pans.

20 pounds of Oakum.

Granite Cups.

Pack Straps.

Granite Plates.

2 Gold Pans.

2 Coffee Pots.

4 Galvanized Pails.

2 Frying Pans.

1 Whetstone.

1 Stove (Yukon).

2 Picks and Handles.

4 Granite Buckets.

2 Prospector's Picks.

1 Camp Kettle.

2 Grub Bags.

I have no exact record of the wearing apparel that
formed an important part of our outfit, but it was ample.
There is nothing in the following list which will not come
in very handy if a man intends to move around in the rain

56

GARMENTS FOR ARCTIC WEATHER

storms of summer and iu the frigid weatlier of an Alaskan
winter:

3 Suits Underwear, extra heavy.
2 Extra heavy double-breasted

Flanuel Overshirts.
1 Extra heavy Mackinaw Over-
shirt.

1 Extra heavy all-wool double

Sweater.
6 Pairs long German knit Socks.

2 Pairs Gerinan knit and shrunk

Stockings, leather heels.
1 Mackinaw Coat, extra heavy.
1 Pair Mackinaw Pants.

4 Pairs All- Wool Mittens.

2 Pairs Leopard Seal Waterproof

1 Pair Hip iJoots. [JMitteus.

2 Pairs Rubber Shoes.
2 Pairs Overalls.

1 Waterproof, Blanket-Lined Coat.

2 Pairs Blankets.
1 Fur Cap.

1 Wool Scarf.
1 Pair Leather Suspenders.
1 Extra Heavy Packing Bag.
1 Suit Oil Clothing and Hat.
1 Doz. Bandana Handkerchiefs.
1 Canvas Sleeping Bag.

Any woman who thinks of going to Alaska can read
this list intended for a man and govern the selection of her
garments accordingly.

Onr outfit, which altogether we estimated would weigh
about 3,200 pounds, embraced other little odds and ends,
personal effects, and so on. We each had a rifle, and we
also provided ourselves with revolvers. We haunted gTO-
cery stores and clothing houses for over a week, and as our
purchases were delivered I began to get a dim realization
of what Joe was preparing for. Still I was often surprised
at the wholesale manner in which he bought. One day
he bought a medicine chest, wdiieh looked like a miniature
drug store. Tt had been recommended to him by a phy-
sician. It took up a lot of room and it was about the only
thing that we did not use in our subsequent wanderings.
The trouble was that we did not know how to use it. Some
of the remedies might have been for blisters or cramps or
any other human ailment so far as we knew. We managed

GRIT MORE THAN HALF 57

to sort out a few remedies with whicli we had some famil-
iarity. We found tliat a few stock remedies, such as most
]5ersons are accustomed to use, are about all that it is worth
while to carry over the mountain trails and long voyages
by water. In winter a hot drink of tea did us more good
than anything else, and in summer a few quinine pills were
taken as bon-bons.

" Over a ton and a half," I said when the collection was
completed.

" You will think it weighs five times that before you get
it on the Yukon," remarked Joe. " But it's a mighty good
outfit, and I hope we shall get it there all right."

Joe was sometimes vague as to the details of some of the
difficulties for which he was so carefully providing; and
though a faint suspicion would now and then arise in my
mind when he confined himself to general statements in
answer to some of my questions, I quieted my misgivings.
I think even he had no clear conception of the magnitude of
some of the dangei's and hardships we were destined to en-
counter. " It'll be the roughest roughing it you ever saw,"
he would say. '' But you've got grit, and that's more than
ball"

CHAPTER III

CHOOSING A ROUTE — OUR VOYAGE ALONG THE COAST-
ARRIVAL AT DYEA— FIRST EXPERIENCE WITH NA-
TIVES.

Departure from San Francisco — Port Townsend — Through Puget
Sound — Points of Interest and Beauty — A Gap in the Island Belt
— Few Moments of Seasickness — The Great Scenic Region — In
Alaskan Waters — Tide Water Glaciers — Juneau as a Metropolis —
A Glimpse of Totem Poles — Indian Traders — The Mines of the
Vicinity and their Discovery — Famous Treadwell Mills — The
Largest in the World — The Skagway and Dalton Trails — Pro-
ceeding to Dyea — Dumped on the Beach — Getting Supplies
Together and Beyond the Tide — The Problem of Moving Ahead —
Approached by Indian Packers — Dangers of Bidding up Prices —
A Contract with the Heathen — Our First Night in Camp — Dark
Ways of the Chilkoots — We Decide to Do Our Own Packing.

AT the time we started for Alaska there were but two
general routes from the Pacific Coast of the United
States to the gold, regions of the Yukon. The first
was by the way of the Yukon River, and that means a jour-
ney of about four thousand fiye hundred miles, all by w^ater,
at such times as the sand bars do not obstruct nayigation.
This yoyage can only be made between the middle of June
and the first of September, and it usually requires forty
days to reach Circle City. The other way, which is .shorter
and quicker, if conditions are favorable, can be undertaken
much earlier in the year, and is by the way of Juneau, Dyea,
and the mountain passes to the lakes and upper waters of the

(58)

BEGINNING THE VOYAGE 61

Yukon. The fare from San Francisco by way of tlie
Ynkon is about three hundred dollars, and a charge of ten
cents a pound for freight over the amount allowed for per-
sonal baggage. From San Francisco to Juneau the fare is
fifty dollars, and the freight charges amount to but little.
After reaching Dyea the charges for packing and ferrying
are extravagant. One can spend as much as he likes.
There is no limit to what the Chilkoots will try to make out
of a person disposed to give.

We were too impatient to get into the country to wait
for the water route, and I should have dreaded its monotony.
I looked forward to the overland route with pleasure,
especially that part of it supposed to impose the obstacles at
which Joe had so vaguely hinted.

We sailed out of San Francisco harbor on March 15th.
We were not the only gold-seekers aboard. Still, we were
not crowded, and our quarters were comfortable. Port
Townsend, the " Key City of the Sound," is the port of
entry for the Puget Sound customs district, and point of
departure of the mails for Alaska. Here we transferred to
the Alaska steamer which came from Tacoma and Seattle,
and fell in with a few more Alaskan adventurers.

The voyage from Port Townsend, which we left on the
20th, to Juneau, is one of the most varied and delightful that
any coast line aifords. I do not believe there is another
journey on the face of the earth, the first half of which is so
enjoyable and the second half so dismal, as the journey from
Port Townsend to the Yukon in a Juneau and the passes.
For two thousand miles the vessel steams through land-
locked channels, straits, and passages. The landscape is
wonderfully beautiful all the way, and the traveler never
ceases to wonder at its varietv.

02 PAST SNOW-CAPPED SUMMITS

All the upper end uf the Puget Sound is dominated by
^h. Baker, an extinct volcano over ten thousand feet high.
We crossed the Strait of Juan de Fuca, close-walled on the
southern side by the Olympic range, and touched at Vic-
toria on the souther]! point of Vancouver Island. AVe
then skirted the shores of San Juan Island through Active
Pass, and entered the Gulf of Georgia, which is a great
inland sea with the snow-capped mountains of Vancouver
Island continuously on one side, and the Cascade Peaks on
the other. Rounding Cape Mudge, we entered Discovery
Passage, which is, at points, less than half a mile wdde. At
Queen Charlotte Sound there is a forty-mile gap in the
island belt, and the swell of the outer ocean is felt. Those
subject to mal de mer disappear for a time, but that is the
only place in this salt water voyage of two thousand miles
where any discomfort need be expected. We soon entered
the narrow way again, steaming through Lama Passage,
which is beautifully wooded, revealing here and there
glimpses of the aborigines and their totem poles. Having
crossed Millbank Sound we entered the great scenic regions
of the trip. The shores, which are seldom more than two
miles apart, rise abruptly for over a thousand feet, rugged
promontories underneath whose shadows limpid mirrors lie;
while above them rise the snowy ridges, gh'stening with
glaciere and cascades.

After passing Fort Simpson we entered Alaskan waters.
The coasts continued mountainous and the scenery became
more grand. A little above Fort Wrangel we reached the
region of tide-water glaciers, whose bergs sparkling along
the sound, and on every foot of the shore on both sides, is a
suggestion of the wonders of this mighty land of the north.
Mountains rear their snow-capped summits far into the sky,

ARRIVAL AT JUNEAU 63

and, peering throngli the clefts once riven by some great
shock of natnre, we see other ranges, over-topping ranges,
frowning darkly or standing with a ghost-like whiteness;
and, nearer, the mighty glaciers glow in all their varied
tints. We passed inlets, where

, . . " the clmnuel's waters spreading
Turn toward the land, and find it
So entrancing in its fairness,
So stupendous in its grandeur !
Find its ice-bound coast so willing
To receive their bright advances,
That they lie in sheets of silver
At the foot of lofty ice-peaks."

On tlie fonrth day out from Port Townsend we steamed
into Gastineau Channel, and soon arrived at Juneau, the
metropolis of Alaska. AYe had feasted on the delights of
the voyage, and the disagreeable portion was to come.
Xature has a way of evening things up, and though some-
times the process is so long that we do not realize it, her rigid
law of compensation is always in force.

We disembarked at Juneau with our precious supplies.
It is a queer metropolis, lying at the base of precipitous
mountains about three thousand feet high, and the flat plain
between the shore and the base of the mountain seems very
narroAV, It is now well built up with houses, though it con-
tained at that time only about two thousand people. Its
streets are narrow, crooked, and muddy, and here and there
the tree-stumps remain unpleasantly in the way. It has a
court house, several hotels and lodging houses, theaters,
churches, schools, newspapers, a hospital, a fire brigade, and
a brass band, but more saloons and dance-houses than all the
other institutions put together. Among its more modern
improvements are water-works and electric light plants.

64 THE METROPOLIS OF ALASKA

Adjuiiiiiii;' on tlu> I'ast below the wharf is a viUage of 'I'aku
Indian^;, and on the Hats at the mouth of Gokl Creek is a
viUage of Auk Indians, back of which we get a glimpse of
totem poles over the graves of the dead, and hung with offer-
ings to the departed spirit^s. As we pass along through
Third and Stewart streets, in the heart of the city, we find
the Indians squatting about their wares, fish, vegetables,
berries, and curios, and in the larger stores are fine displays
of fur's. One can get about everything he needs here, and
a good deal more, especially in the lines of gambling, drink-
ing, and dance halls. Such, in brief, is the metropolis of a
country larger than Germany and Austria-Hungary to-
gether.

Juneau is essentially a mining town, owing its su-
premacy to the adjacent quartz mines which have much
more than paid the cost of Alaska, to say nothing of its seals
and valuable fisheries. Until recently the territory's repu-
tation as a gold country has been due to these mines. It was
about twenty yeare ago that a party of Indians brought
a bit of gold quartz to Sitka, where a merchant grub-staked
Joseph Juneau and Richard Harris, and sent tliem in search
of the ore. Although this was the beginning of «Tuneau,
it was three years later before the place took its name. The
settlement was first named Harrisburg, but the mining com-
pany Avhich had named the district the Harris Mining Dis-
trict gave the name of Juneau to the town. Miners flocked
to the new" camp, but many came too late to find claims
there, and crossed over to what is now known as Douglass
Island, then an untouched wilderness. After they had
staked out claims they sold for something less than five hun-
dred dollars, and a corporation, mostly of California men,
finallv secured it. It is now the site of the famous Tread-

AN INEXHAUSTIBLE SUPPLY 65

well gold mills, the largest plant of the kind in the world.
Abont a million of dollars has been spent on the plant, at
which six hundred tons of ore are milled daily at a cost of
about one dollar and twenty-five cents a ton. The ore
varies in value from three dollars to seven dollars a ton.
The supply seems inexhaustible. The company is capi-
talized at five million dollars, and has paid nearly four mil-
lion dollars in dividends. Joseph Juneau died a poor man.

Being the center of such an industry, and also the chief
rendezvous of the miners going over the passes into the in-
terior, Juneau City will doubtless maintain its supremacy
as Alaska's metropolis. The news of the Yukon dis-
coveries has wrought a great change in the place since we
went in, and promises to work greater. Joe Avas perfectly
at home in this region, where he had worked during his
former sojourn in Alaska. I played the part of the tourist,
he of guide. While waiting at Juneau we purchased a
couple of sleds well adapted to Alaskan uses, and with these
our outfit seemed complete.

From Juneau to Dyea is one hundred and eighteen
miles up Lynn Canal and the Ghilkoot and Taiya (Dyea)
Inlets. The route by Dyea and the Chilkoot Pass was the
old reliable one, having been used by the Indians for years,
and the one which most of the gold-seekers we had encoun-
tered were taking. There are two others, the Skagway
over the White Pass and the Dalton trail from the Chilkat
Inlet. The first was thought by some to be the easier route,
and was the one generally chosen by those who were ex-
perimenting with horses in this rough country. It is about
seventeen miles from tide water to the summit of the White
Pass, and abont four miles of this is through a flat timbered
valley. The summit is about two thousand six hundred

66 THE DALTON TRAIL

feet above tide water, and the remainder of tlie rontc nntil
it joins the Chilkoot trail is over marehes and an undidatinii;
rocky surface exceedingly difficult for pack animals, and
with very little soil. In 1896 this trail attracted little at-
tention. Its prominence was to come the following year.

If the Alaskan traveler is to experiment with horses,
and the temptation is certainly great in view of the un-
reliability of the Indians, he had best try the Dalton trail,
which takes its name from Jack Dalton, who went to
Juneau many years ago, as one story goes, because he was
iiccused of stealing horses. He was innocent of the charge,
but he took veugeance on the man who had accused him.
His trail affords a tolerably good road for two hundred miles
from tide water. The first forty miles from Chilkat Inlet
is on a river flat with an easy grade, thence to the divide,
which is three thousand feet above the sea level. Another
divide is crossed twenty miles further on at the watershed
of the Alsek and Chilkat rivers. The rest of the trail to the
Five Finger Rapids is a succession of valleys with hardly
perceptible divides. It is said that in summer a man with
a saddle horse and pack animal can make thirty miles a day
on this trail. Dalton is one of the most expert of Alaskan
trailers.

But it is the Dyea route which concerns us, and thus far
it has remained the most practicable one. We left Juneau
for Dyea on March 25th, on a fair-sized steamer, but quickly
encountered difl"erent conditions from those which had yire-
viously afforded us so much pleasure. AVe should have
reached Dyea in twelve hours, but there seemed to be a hur-
ricane trying to get out of the canal, which some have called
the grandest fiord on the coast. There are a few indenta-
tions on the coasts, which are made up of abru]")t palisades

A SCENE OF CONFUSION 67

varied with glaciers and forests. The water is very deep in
the channel, and a strong cold wind sucked down between
the cliffs of either side, and tossed us about in the most bois-
terous fashion. Drifting icebergs from the Eagle, Auk,
and Davidson glaciers added to the confusion. After
pitching about helplessly for some time, we put up in a little
bay, and lay over there one day. Meanwhile most of the
wind seemed to have worked itself out of the channel.
Thus we did not arrive at Dyea till the 27th, and after pick-
ing up on the way a party which had been wrecked on a
small sailboat and had lost most of their provisions.

Dyea is an Indian word meaning " pack " or " load."
Certainly you would have thought it a very appropriate one
if you had seen the gold-seekers and their belongings
dumped on the beach, almost every man and woman with
provisions for a year or more, while some of the dirtiest-
looking Indians on the face of the earth hovered around
like evil spirits. There was a small improvised wharf,
which was of no use, as there was too little water in the chan-
nel to permit the steamer to come up, and her cargo was dis-
charged by scows and small boats.

The beach was flat and covered with small rocks which
the people there, who make their living by unloading car-
goes and packing over the trail, leave just where Nature
dropped them. It might hurt their business to remove
such obstructions to convenience and safety. The
steamer anchored about two miles from the village, it being-
low tide. Boats were lowered and the unloading com-
menced, the contents being dumped on the rocks, anywhere
to get rid of them, and there was considerable confusion.

After our goods were deposited and had been sorted out,
the next thing was to get them up above the reach of the

68 TENTING IN THE SNOAV

tide. AVe worked like beavers, and so did the others.
With a little hig,h-priced help from the Indians, we man-
aged to carry everything back about a mile from the beach,
where we found a place to camp. There we set up our tent,
and made preparations for the season of roughing it before
us. About ten inches of snow covered the ground, and it
was quite soft in places. While we ^v•ho had been used to a
miner's life did not mind it much, there was a noticeable
change in the faces of those who were less inured to hard-
ships. It is not pleasant to leave the steamer and to begin
living in a tent pitched in nearly a foot of snow.

When we had settled ourselves as comfortably as we
could, and had taken the opportunity to observe our sur-
roundings, w^e were struck with, the transformation wdiich
some of the women had undergone. Generally speaking,
their dresses had disappeared, and they came forth in
bloomers, and many of them in the regulation trousers of
the other sex. It does not do to be '' squeamish" in Alaska.
There are obstacles enough to travel, without the in-
cumbrance of skirts. The w^omen were of all ages under
fifty, and, as we gradually learned, the majority of them
were unmarried, at least had no husbands wdth them, and
their destination was the dance halls of Circle City and
Forty Mile. They were not as a rule an attractive lot for
fastidious people to encounter socially, but out of about
thirty women, four or five were wives traveling with their
husbands, or daughters with their fathers, and were very
respectable and well-appearing people, with marks of refine-
ment which their life in mining camps had not obliterated.

But there is little time to observe human nature.
There are over three thousand two hundred pounds to get
over the trail somehow. On our two sleds w^e could di-aw a

ENGAGING PACKERS 69

fair load over good roads, but the advisability of securing
Indian packers for the bulk of the provisions was naturally
suggested. A few of the gold pilgrims started at once to
pack their goods further up the trail before camping. A
feverish haste will ahvays be noticed among such pilgrims,
though it helps but little in the end.

In a short time a dirty one-eyed Indian came towards
us, and in English which just escaped being unintelligible
asked if we had packing to do. lie knew well enough we
had.

" How nnicli you give to summit? " he asked.

According to the ethics of the trail the price for pack-
ing should 2iot be bid up. If one party put up the price in
order to secure quick service, every other Indian on the trail
would know it in an inconceivably short space of time, and
all would throw down their packs at once, contracts or no
contracts. They would refuse to carry for less than the
man in a hurry was willing to pay. One man who had
plenty of money, it was said, bid up the price, and as a result
received a very cold ducking in the creek. So we offered
the Indian the prevailing price, which was seventeen cents
a pound, and he promised to be on hand with twenty-five
Indians early the next morning.

" You may see that heathen in tlie morning, and you
may not," remarked Joe, as the Indian slowly loafed away
towards the little ^'illagc of about three hundred Chilkoots.

We cut some hemlock brush and laid it on the snow in
the tent, put our blankets on it, and filling our pipes sat
down near the opening of the tent, Joe on a box of soap, I
on some evaporated apricots.

" Do you see that notch up yonder? " said Joe, blowing
a cloud of smoke from his mouth. I saw it, though it was

70 THE UNRELIABLE HEATHEN

hardly distiiiguisliable in the whiteness of tlic towering
mountains.

" Well, this truck of ourn' has got to go up through
there."

I never slept better in my life than I did on those hem-
lock boughs laid over snow. AVe were up bright and early
to be ready for the Indians. There were no signs of them.
We finished our breakfast, and packed the sleds which we in-
tended to draw ourselves. Then we took down our tent,
but no Indians came. I grew impatient, but Joe seemed
not at all surprised. After a time he went do^^^l to the
Indian village, but came back alone, saying tlie Indians
were not all up. As they showed no indications of taking
off their clothes when they retired for the night, I concluded
that getting up could not be a long process. But it was
over an hour before an Indian appeared, and then there
were less than a dozen.

" Where are the others? " I asked sternly of the one-
eyed Chilkoot.

" They come bimeby," he remarked indifferently.

The wretched-looking Siwashes poked around among
the packs, hefted them critically, then jabbered away
among themselves, and finally informed us that they ob-
jected to some of the articles unless an extra price was paid.
The very Indians we had engaged were dickering with other
parties in the same way. I tried threatening one of them,
but it had no more effect than if he had been an iceberg.
Joe laughed at me, while the Indians stood about chattering
in a language that is perfectly inexpressible in any phonetic
signs we have. Xo one would ever take it for speech but
for the slight motions of their lips, and the convulsions in
the throat. " A confusion of gutturals with a plentitude of

GOOD SUBJECTS FOR MISSIONARY WORK 71

saliva — a moist language with a gurgle that approaches a
gargle," is the best description of it I have ever heard.

None of the Indians seemed to be in the least hurry to
start; indeed, they did not appear to care whether they
started or not. Once in a while the one-eyed fellow would
come and demand more on some flimsy pretext or otlier.
Finally my patience gave out completely. I told Joe that
I would rather pack our stores over a dozen Chilkoot passes
than fool with heathen like these. So, after losing con-
siderable time, we concluded to do our own packing, and I
think some of those fellows went away actually relie^'ed.
They are too lazy to regard the loss of w^ork as anything but
a blessing. So far as I observed them, they had one virtue,
and that was a remarkable regard for other people's prop-
erty. They will not steal, but their word is absolutely
worthless. They have no conception of the obligations of
a contract. After demanding exorbitant pay, and being
promised it, they will delay starting to suit their own feel-
ings, and will throw down their packs at the slightest ]3rovo-
cation. They will even trudge along with them for a long
distance, and then, after demanding extra pay, will drop
their burdens and return with no pay for what they have
done. JSTo one can afford to engage them for any but short
distances, for the point is soon reached when they have eaten
up all they started with.

These people may be interesting to ethnologists, and
they may seem i^romising material for devout missionaries,
but for the man who is in a hurry to get to the gold regions
of Alaska they are more often a hindrance than a help.
Where one cannot depend on horses or dogs, he will save
his tom]~»er by depending on himself. PTe will also save a
lot of money and a large percentage of his provisions.

CHAPTER lY

LIFE OX THE TRAIL — STRANGE SIGHTS AND SCENES —
STORM BOUND IN SHEEP CAMP — A WOMAN'S AD-
VENTURES AND EXPERIENCES.

Along the Famous Dyea Trail — Walking Twenty Miles and Making
Four — Snow, Boulders, and Glaciers — Exhibitions of Grit — Tent-
ing in the Snow — A Democratic Crowd — The Yukon Stove —
The So-called Gridiron — Beans and Bacon — "It will be New On
the Yukon" — Asleep on a Bed of Boughs — What a Trail Consists
of — A Crack Two Miles Long — Pleasant Camp — Sheep Camp
and the Faint-Hearted — A Discouraged Man and a Resolute
Woman — Going Over Anyhow — Not All so Brave — Having a
Good Cry — My Theory as to the Fortitude of Some Women —
Throwing off the Fetters of Civilization — Two Weeks of Storm —
Monotony and Silence — An Active Glacier Entertains Us — Nature' s
Untamed Moods — Sunshine at Last — Now for The Chilkoot!

THE beginning of the trail over Chilkoot Pass does
not give any indications of the difficulties a little
further on, esiiecially under favorable conditions
in the latter part of March. Tlie streams are still frozen,
except in open places, and the trail along their banks is cov-
ered with snow, wliicli in most places lias become solidly
packed. In the early winter tlie snow is apt to be soft and
deep, while in the summer the trails are soft and slippery,
and streams with treacherous bottoms must be forded.
The water is considerably colder at all times than any man-
ufactured ice water, and tlie current is swift and strong,

(72)

PACKING UP THE TRAIL 73

being" abundantly fed by the melting glaciers and rains
that nevea- end till one has forgotten when they began.

" Does it always rain here ? " I once heard a traveler
ask of an Indian.

" Snows sometime," replied the native, in the most mat-
ter-of-fact manner. Before we got through the pass we
found that it could do both at the same time without show-
ing any signs of exhaustion.

Joe superintended all the preparations. We increased
the loads on our sleds to 400 pounds each, and found that
we could pull them very comfortably for the first five miles,
the river being frozen and the track hardened by those who
had gone ahead. At the end of five miles the way became
more difiicult, and, coming to a spot well timbered and
watered, where several othei's had camped, we unloaded,
cached our goods, and returned to camp for another load.
We saw that we could not make the four trips necessary
to bring up all our goods without working half the night,
and we were tired enough to stop when we returned from
the third load, but concluded to keep on.

The Dyea Valley is an old river bed full of huge boul-
ders, which make a summer trip over the trail exceedingly
difiicult. Even in winter they are serious obstacles, as
there are places in the river which do not freeze, and unless
the snow is deej) the sledding is very rough on the banks.
On either side, high up on the mountains, the tops of which
were hidden in the clouds most of the time, were small gla-
ciers cutting down through the scraggy growth of spruce
and hemlock. Back and forth through this desolate valley
w^e tramped, continually meeting others engaged in the
same work.

There is no time to stop to cultivate acquaintances.

74 GRIT OF THE (K)LD PILGRIMS

Occasionally we came up just in time to help a man right
his overturned sled, or to extricate a woman who had stepped
into a treacherous drift or fallen into a little crevice.
Here and there along the way tents were passed, as well as
caches of provisions, which were left unguarded without
incurring serious risk. But in Alaska all provisions must
be cached to be out of reach of the dogs. They are the
only thieves.

Many strange sights are witnessed even in these days,
when the gold fields at Forty-Mile and Birch Creek are at-
tracting fortune-seekers. AVe met a young woman who
was going in with her husband, slowly working her way to-
ward the pass. She was trudging along with packs of over
forty pounds on her back, and her face bore the marks of
refinement. The grit and nerve displayed on every side
were marvelous. Some men preferred to make short
marches and piled on their backs sixty or seventy-five
pounds, keeping up a brisk gait for a mile or so, then strik-
ing camp, and in the same way bringing up the remainder
of their outfits. That is the hardest way and nothing is
gained.

It was very late before we arrived with our last load and
had our tent again set up in the snow.. Those who have
not tried it can hardly imagine what it is to tramp twenty-
five miles, half the way pulling four hundred pounds, in
an intermittent snow storm, over a road which, while
smooth for Alaska, would be deemed almost impassable in
Xew England.

Yet there was a novelty in the experience which was
exhilarating, so that it did not fatigue us as much as it might
otherwise have done. Having put up our tent and cut a
few scraggy hemlocks, we trimmed off the tops for a bed

FLAPJACKS ON A YUKON STOVE 75

and used the stumps for a fire, not so easily started with
green wood in a snow storm. It was a very democratic
gathering. Theire were no formalities, no hint of conven-
tionalities of any kind. The picturesque element was not
lacking, and the ludicrous side of life was ever present.
Looking a few feet up the hillside through the flying snow
I caught a glimpse of a woman who, attired in her husband's
trousers, was turning flapjacks on a " Yukon stove," utterly
unconscious of the ridiculous appearance she presented.
The " Yukon stove," by the way, is a small sheet iron box
with an oven at the back and a telescope pipe. Novices
sometimes have to stud}^ a moment to decide which is the
oven and which is the fire-box. This simple arrangement is
set on a " gridiron," that is, three poles about eight feet
long, so that when the snow melts underneath, the poles
continue to form a support for it. Necessity is nowhere a
more fruitful mother of invention than in Alaska.

Joe and I confined ourselves to beans and bacon, a
staple dish in these regions; indeed, an odor of beans and
bacon predominates in nearly all the camps along the trail.
AVe lighted our pipes and sat close to the little stove to dry
our clothing. Mingled with the sighing of the wind and
the soft beating of the snow on the tent, came the shrill
voice of one of the dance-house girls singing a hackneyed
air.

" It will be new on the Yukon," observed Joe, as he
threw himself full length on the bed of boughs, and he was
asleep before I had time to follow. I went out and care-
fully brushed the snow off the roof of the tent before re-
tiring, for I had learned the importance of such a measure
in roughing it in an even milder climate. If the interior of
the tent is heated, the snow falling on the outside will, of

76 SEVEN MILES IN FOUR DAYS

course, become claiiij), aiul, later, when the lire has gone
down or out, aud the interior has become cold, the damp
snow will freeze so hard that it is almost impossible to take
down the tent. Many found this out to their sorrow when
the next day they started to move ahead. The stonn had
been a cold one, and it was hours before they could pack
their tents, and then they were weighted with ice and ex-
tremely difficult to handle. People can cause themselves
a world of trouble in Alaska by neglecting a few details.

We were four days in moving our stores to Sheep Camp,
^\•hicll is al)0ut seven miles further on. For the first two
miles we could haul about three hundred pounds, but
through the canon it was only by the greatest exertion that
we could pull one hundred and fifty. The trail was much
better from Pleasant Camp, on the other side of the caiion,
to Sheej) Camp, but it was up-hill all the way. It snowed
continuously, sometimes gently, and occasionally furiously.

A trail in Alaska should not be confused with the ordi-
nary highway of settled states. When a trail is spoken of
as existing between two points in Alaska it has no further
meaning than that a man, and possibly a beast of burden,
may travel that way over the natural surface of the ground.
There is a very strong improbability concerning the beast,
unless it be a dog. The path may consist of nothing more
than a marked or blazed way through an otherwise impen-
etrable wilderness, and unless it is used more or less con-
tinuously the traces are apt to disappear in one of Alaska's
seasons. Xo eager prospector stops to make it any easier
for someone else. A man carrving his food, his cooking
utensils, and working tools on his back, has no time nor dis-
position to cut down trees. When he comes to an unfrozen
stream he wades it, or if a tree has fallen across it, so mucli

ALONG DYEA CANON 79

tlio better. The Cliilkoot trail 2)ossesses the advantage of
having been nsed by miners since 1880, but it was hiid ont
1:»y Indians, who are too lazy to improve it; and, besides,
they make a living because it is almost impossible for pack
animals to go over it. The opening of Alaska may put an
end to all this, so far as the Dyea trail is concerned.

Dyea Canon is a crevice in the mountains about two
miles long and fifty feet wide, with a raging river at the
bottom. The topography abruptly changes. Great boul-
ders are piled in confused heaps, and the snow-laden stumps
of trees and upturned roots stick out in fantastic shapes.
We kept to the iee when we could, but frequently took
to steeper and rougher }>aths. For a short distance the
grade is about eighteen degrees, until an elevation of five
hundred feet is reached, and then the trail descends slightly
to Pleasant Camp, which is not far from the mouth of the
canon. It is a spot which is anything Init " pleasant," ac-
cording to the significance of that term in civilized regions.
It is applied here because a few trees have had the good
fortune to get a living there, and they afford a kind of
shelter and a convenient place for a camp.

The trail from Pleasant Camp to Sheep Camp was fairly
good, at an average elevation of five hundred feet, and with
but few shnr]) jiitches. The cam]! itself is in a valley or
canon about half a mile wide, with very high, steep, and
rocky mountains on either side. The white summit of the
Chilkoot towers three thousand feet above, but we caught
only glimpses of it in the fickle storm. Xo timber grows
above us. It is a frowning ]ficture and it tells on faint
hearts. As we slowly dragged our loads, we met more than
one mau who had turned back, unt caring to l)rave the ]iass
for all the oold tliat niiiiht be on the other side. Alaska

80 SHEEP CAMP AND ITS REVELATIONS OF CHARACTER

is no place for a man who, becoming- discouragecl at the hrst
serious obstacle that presents itself, leaves a camp where \w
sees women keeping up hearts as strong as iron, and turns
his back.

Sheep Camp is a favorable ])lace to discover the differ-
ence in men and to see what some women are made of. AVe
came across one man completely disheartened and limp,
right at the foot of that great climb of three thousand five
hundred feet, pleading piteously with his wife to turn back,
while she, not half his size, but with wonderful nerve,
bustled about their snowy camp in the bitter cold, con-
stantly wearing a smile and cheering up her forlorn mate
in every possible way. How will slie get him over the sum-
mit? I thought. But she did. She just told him that she
was going- over anyho^v, and that if he wanted to go back he
could. She had a woman's shrewdness. She knew that,
much as he feared to go ahead with her, he would not dare
to go back without her.

Shortly after pitching- our tent at Sheep Camp I looked
out and saw a slim woman swinging an axe at a small hem-
lock. Her tent was near l)y and she seemed to be alone.
With a spirit of gallantly, Avhich, T am glad to say, is never
altogether lost in mining life, I walked over and offered
my assistance. She wanted the tree for a fire, and I soon
had it in front of her tent ready for a blaze. She had been
making trips to the summit of the pass all day, carrying
packs of twenty-five pounds, and was then preparing the
camp for her husband, who had gone to the summit with
the last load. Her clothes were wet through; she was lame
and tired, but she laughed good-naturedly as she told me
some of her experiences on the awful trail, how she had
slipped ofi" a log and fallen into the river and an Indian

EXHILARATING FREEDOM 81

had pulled lier out by the collar of the thick coat she
wore.

But it must not be thought that all women along the
trail were as brave as tliis. There were exceptions. I saw
one sitting down and having a good cry, crying for home
and other women to talk to, perhaps, for carpets, and
baker's bread, and the gossip of the city, and the comforts
of civilized life. Her husband, who was pretty blue him-
self, was tiying to comfort her. I noticed that she still
clung to her petticoats. One could not fail to notice many
instances, however, in which tlie women seemed to show a
fortitude superior to the men. It was a revelation, almost a
mystery. But after a wliile I began to account for it as the
natural result of an escape from the multitude of social
customs and restraints which in civilized society hedge
about a woman's life. Hardened miners enter on the
Alaskan trail as a sort of gi'im business, something a little
worse than they have been accustomed to, and yet much the
same. The stimulus received from the novelty of the situ-
ation is much less than in the case of a woman, especially
one who has not been used to roughing it. She steps out
of her dreSvS into trousers in a region where nobody cares.
Her nature suddenly becomes aware of a freedom which
is in a way exhilarating. She has, as it were, thro\\Ti off
the fetters which civilized society imposes, and while re-
taining her womanliness she becomes something more than
a mere woman. Her sensitive nature is charmed with
the new conditions, and her husband, who has had the
advantage of no such metamorphosis, sits down, tired
and disheartened by the obstacles in his path, and marvels
at his wife as she drags her heavv rubber boots throuch the

82 THE THUNDKKOUS CRASH OP FALLING ICE

snow and climbs; with a light liL-art the precipices of mighty
mountains.

Tlie weather was fairly good wdiile Ave were bringing
our stores up to Sheep Camp, but as soon as we had them
settled there and were ready to begin on the summit it be-
came ferociously cold. The mercury fell to eighteen de-
grees below zero, the snow flew at intervals, and at times
the wind would swoop down through the valley like an
avalanche, rolling from the great peaks above us. On one
side of the valley is a large glacier. We could stand at the
entrance of our tent, looking across the canon, and see it
very plainly, about two miles a^vay. A w^all of ice eighty
or ninety feet high marked its lower end, and occasionally
a great piece of ice would break off and c»me rolling down
into the valley. Tlie earth would tremble and the roar of
the mighty crash was like a |>eal of distant thunder through
the mountain gorges. TA^dce while I was watching I saw
gTeat pieces of ice many times larger than the great sky-
scraping buildings of Chicago break away and come tumb-
ling into the caiion below.

The scenery was sublime, but the weather continued
abominable and we were detained at this camp for Uyo
weeks. Few thought of venturing over the summit under
such conditions. The wind must be still and tlie sky clear.
Once, when the prospects seemed brighter, we strapped on
our packs and started out, but soon it began to storm again.
"We met a party of Indians and prospectors who had started
earlier and had cached some of their goods at a ]>oint well
up on the trail and were going back to wait again. They
warned us that it was dangerous to attempt an ascent, but
as we had light packs and tho wind was blowing in our
direction we decided to push ahead. The trail grew worse,

AMONG THE SILENT HILLS 83

the wind increased and sifted the snow across the track
so that we could not fail to recognize the serious dangers
of a misstep. And so we followed the others back to
camp.

It was a very dreary camp during those two weeks.
There was no laughter there. The everlasting hills and
the apparently everlasting storm hung over the little valley
like a harsh penalty. Difficult as it is to follow the trails,
there is nothing so hard as to keep still in these regions,
especially when the mercury is far below zero. We got
along very comfortably, however, as our tent was a good
one and we had plenty of blankets. There were about a
hundred others in the camp, but they kept closely to their
tents most of the time. Indeed, wdien the wind went down
the stillness over that little clump of white habitations
among the stunted trees was almost appalling. No hum of
industry or sound of sociability disturbed the silence. Cut
oif from the world, a man feels himself dwindling into a
mere atom amkl these silent, everlasting hills. He feels
almost like speaking in whispers when, suddenly, on the op-
pressive stillness there breaks a sharp report like a claj? of
thunder, and it goes on roaring, and dies away grumbling
and murmuring amid the mountains. Then all is still
again. A glacier has moved. Here is where iSTature
is working. She is young yet, the hills have not been
ground down. But in her youthful, untamed moods she is
terrible.

The anomaly presented by the region forced itself more
clearly upon us when we considered that we were practi-
cally in the same latitude as St. Petersburg, where the bril-
liant court of a great enrpirc is held. AVe were still eight
hundred miles south of the Arctic Circle. We were hardly

84 THE CAMP ASTIK.

iivc huiulreJ feet above tlie sea level, but in an inhospitable
region, where heroic courage and endurance are requisites;
a wilderness with the snow and ice around and above us.

At last the clouds passed away, and the sun shone out
for a time with dazzling brightness. The white peaks above
us fairly glowed. The little camp was alive.

CHAPTER V

THE DREADED CHILKOOT PASS — HOW WE CROSSED IT
— SLIDING DOWN THE MOUNTAINS AT LIGHTNING
SPEED — "THERE COMES A WOMAN."

A Steep Trail — Climbing the Mountain Forty Times — Some of the
Diiliculties — Missteps that are Dangerous — Straight up over
Seven Hundred Feet — An Obscure Summit — Facilitating the Re-
turn— Trousers Fortified with a Canvas Patch — A Slide in the
Trench — Tobogganing Outdone — A Collision — Out of Sight in
the Deep Snow — " There Comes a Woman " — Down Like a Flash

— Runaway Sleds — An Alaskan Sunburn — Snow-blindness — A
Painful Experience — On the Summit at Last — A Grand Spectacle

— Turning Sleds Loose down the Mountain — Bounding over
Crater Lake — Lake Lindeman — Observing the Timber — The Ir-
responsible Indian — Signaling by Burning Trees — Ice-sledding
across Lindeman — Lake Bennett — Flapjacks and Congratulations.

FROM Sheep Camp to tlie summit of Chilkoot Pass is
about four miles, and we determined to carry all
our things up on our backs. The trail was so steep
most of the way that it would have been impossible to haul
more than a hundred pounds on a sled, and added to this
would be the weight of the sled. The latter part of the
way is altogether too perpendicular for comfortable sled-
ding. It is a steady ascent from the camp to the " Scales,"
which is a flat place at the fqot of ^' the last climb." The
grade from the camp to Stone House, so called because
nature seems to have arranged the rocks with more sym-
metry than usual, and that is saying very little, is from
6 (85)

86 FORTY TRIPS TO THE SUMMIT

twelve to eiiilitecn degrees; from tlicre to the ** Scales " it
is about twenty-five degrees, aud from that place to the
summit about thirty degrees, though the last ascent is
nearer thirty-five. The ascent is one thousand nine hun-
dred and fifty feet in the first three miles, and one thousand
two hundred and fifty in the next mvle.

This does not look great on paper, and it is not; for
mountain climbers are every day ascending steeps as great
and twice as high. But they are not compelled to take
along all they are to have to eat, to wear, and to use for a
year or more. Therein lies one of the main difficulties in
proceeding to the interior of Alaska. If one could depend
upon warehouses within easy reach, could buy what he
wanted as he journeyed from place to place, traveling in
Alaska would have a few pleasures in it. At least it would
not be difficult.

Joe and I were compelled to make forty trips over these
steep places to get our outfit to the summit, and climbing a
mountain forty times with a heavy pack on the back is dif-
ferent from climbing it once almost empty-handed and for
fun. Many took all their goods to the Stone House at first,
and then by another stage carried them to the " Scales " ;
then by another to the summit. AVe adopted difl^erent tac-
tics. Having strapped our packs on, we continued to the
foot of the last ascent, and there if the weather was bad we
would leave them, otherwise we continued on to the sum-
mit. As the wind was blowing most of the time, this re-
sulted in our having most of our outfit at the foot of the
final ascent before we had many opportunities to view the
summit, or any at all to indulge in a view from it.

The trail up to the " Scales " looks smooth when the
snow lies decjD OA^er it, but it is, nevertheless, difficult, and

A TREACHEROUS TRAIL 87

by a single misstep the traveler may find himself bnried to
the armpits. Underneath are great masses of rocks, and
part of the way fallen trees, but the timber belt ends com-
pletely at Stone House. One of the difficulties in the
ascent lay in successfully passing those who were descend-
ing for another load, for the way is exceedingly narrow,
and one must not step out of the trail except with the great-
est caution. Occasionally a man would find himself at the
bottom of a crevice forty feet or so below the trail, and he
could make his way back only with the greatest difficulty.

The last climb of nearly seven hundred feet up a moun-
tain peak that seemed to rise almost straight before us was
the hardest of all. The trail winds in zigzag fashion in and
around the boulders and over the glacial streaks, but at this
time it was covered with snow, in some places fifty feet deep.
In tlie steeper places steps were cut in the ice and snow,
and in taking a pack up one was compelled to lean forward
and use his hands on the icy steps. Occasionally a tired
man would make a misstep, or his foothold caved off, and
down the precipice he rolled, landing in the soft snow, from
which he had to extricate himself and again attempt the
tiresome climb. Its was drudgery in its simplest and purest
form. One hundred pounds was the most that either of us
could take, and then it required an hour to cover that seven
hundred feet to the summit, which we generally found
covered with a blinding snow storm or bathed in an ice-fog.

Fortunately, in returning we could make up for lost
time. So steep and so treacherous was the trail, and so
many were working up it, that the descent by the steps for
another load was as trying work as the ascent. The grim
mother of invention again came to the rescue. Nearly
everybody fortified the seat of his trousers by sewing on a

S8 LIKE RIDING AN AVALANCHE

piece of canvas, aiul as there was a short cut back to the bot-
tom of the trail, straight and smooth bnt too steep to climb,
it was brought into use for the purposes of returning, a
trench being formed thereby. One would sit down in this
trench at the top, and just hold his breath till he struck the
bottom. He need not hold it long. It took less time to slide
down than it takes to tell of it. Once started there was no
opportunity to stop, and no time to consider such a question.
I remember that at the first trial I picked myself out of the
snow" and thought I would give up that sport. It seemed a
little too much like riding an avalanche bareback, I was
so much larger and heavier than the rest that gravity gave
me a greater speed. In places the ditch was as much as
four feet deep, but in other places it w\as shallow, and there
was danger of jumping the track. Once I ran into a little
man and w^as thrown completely out of the groove. Down
the mountain side I plowed, plunging entirely out of sight
in the soft snow at the bottom. I picked myself out and
was not in the least hurt. The little man righted himself
somehow, and came doAMi the groove in good order. After
awhile the experience began to have the flavor of true sport,
and the more we tried it the better we liked it.

The women Avere a little timid at first, but they looked
as if they would like to try it. " I'll try it if you w^ill,"
they kept saying to one another. Standing at the bottom
and seeing men come down the seven-hundred-foot groove,
it looked easy, but when standing at the summit and looking
down was something appalling. Finally, as w^e were about
to start up with a pack, some one shouted, " There comes a
woman."

We could see her fidgeting a little at the top; tlien she
WTapped her coat about her, dropped into the trench, and

COASTING DOWN THE HILLS 89

down she came like a flash. She picked herself up out of
the snow rosy and smiling. Then this method of descent
became general. They seemed to enjoy it as much as the
men, but most of those whom I saw going down were of the
(lance-hall variety. It appeared to be a little too much for
the staider matrons, even in men's clothes.

Occasionally, on our way back to Sheep Camp for a load
we also saved a little time by securing a ride on some one's
sled. There was one hill, quite steep and over a mile long.
By having one man to guide the sled, and another to run a
stout stick down through the center for a brake, a small load
of men could slide to the bottom in a very short time, and
generally without mishap. An experienced man will guide
these sleds with a pole about six feet long very cleverly, but
the inexperienced sometimes make bad work. There were
nmaway sleds about every day, and generally some one was
hurt. But in such places nothing is serious, so long as a
man escapes with his life.

It is, however, in the milder winter months only that
the difficult ascent can be varied with such amusements as
these. After the snow has melted the trail becomes one of
confused boulders, roaring streams, and creviced glaciers.
To be sure, we suffered from the cold, and sometimes
severely, but, on the Avhole, going over the summit is much
pleasanter at this season than in the rains of the summer
months, when the trails quickly become muddy and the
streams must be forded.

On my trip over I suffered from sunburn more than
anything else. It may sound strange to speak of sunburn
when clambering over snow many feet deep, but when in
Alaska the sun begins to shine, it is wnth a blazing fierce-
ness. My epidermis was well hardened before I started for

90 SUNBURN AND SNOW-BLINDNESS

Alaska, but some of the time, wliile working over the pass,
my face became so swollen that I could hardly see out of my
eyes. It was exceedingly painful, and often kept me
awake nights when T was very tired. AVhen the wind blew
and the snow flew, my face would smart as if burned by
steam. Many of us learned to blacken our faces with burnt
cork or charcoal, and this served not simply to protect the
skin somewhat, but to protect the eyes. AVe were gruesome
objects with our black faces and goggles. Snow-blindness
was another serious danger. Snow glasses are an absolute
necessity in Alaska, and especially when going over the
snowy passes in the full blaze of the sun ; and one must be
very careful about taking them oif. Occasionally, when
several of us would be trudging up the steep path together a
cry would be heard. Some one had suddenly become snow
blind, and had to be led back to camp. Such unfortunates
would suffer intense pain, and would not regain their sight
for three or four days.

But at last we have reached the summit of that snow-
wrapped peak towards which we have been making our wa}'-
for twenty-three days. Fifteen miles in twentv-tliree
days! After such a journey there should be something
besides the mere consolation of having at last conquered the
obstacles in the path. There is. It is a great temptation
not to throw off the snow-glasses, as we stand on that
dazzling summit. The clouds have been blown away for a
time. The whole scene lies under the fierce sunlight of an
Alaskan April day.

And what a picture! It seems not of this world; it
is so strange, so unique. Almost at our feet is the little
armlet of the Pacific which we left nearly a month ago,
and bevond that and this side of the great Pacific a hun-

"nature's fierce artillery" 91

dred miles away, stretch the snow peaks and their shining

glaciers.

" Silence reigus! the awful stillness
Like a phantom presence lingers
All unseen, but felt so plainly
That it seems to touch the senses.

"Far away the mountain ranges
Pile in wild unclassed confusion,
Eagged peaks, extinct volcanoes,
Rounded knolls and wave-like hillocks
Clustering near or stretching outward
Far beyond our wondering vision:
Snow-clad all, or maybe sliiniug
Underneath an icy garment.
Glacier, cliff, and mountain shoulder
Leaning close against the other,
By the ice-keen chisels blended,
Until ice and stone are welded
In a firm eternal union.

" Crash and boom! the silence wakens
With a shock, whose mighty roaring
Rends the clouds with thunderous pealing!
Sends its varying detonations
Rolling o'er the bay's clear surface!
Bounding forth o'er mountain summits
Where their echoes catch its thunders
And repeat them loudly, wildly,
As if Nature's fierce artillery
Joined its mightiest cannonading
In one grand, triumphant salvo!
In a thousand-voiced announcement
Of an iceberg's bold departure
On its evanescent journey."

Turning in the other direction we behold the hills mel^
ing nway into the great watershed of the mighty Yukon,
which runs its winding course to the Bering Sea throe thou-
sand miles. At our feet lies the first of the frozen lakes.; a

0'2 ACROBATIC INDIANS

body of water lying in an okl crater and now covered with
ice and snow. This is the next stage of our journey, and
the old adage that it is easier to fall than to climb was illus-
trated in Chilkoot style. The descent to the lake, which is
five hundred feet, is smooth and straight, and the Indians,
wlu) were packing for parties on the trail, securely tied their
])acks to sleds, mounted them as a clown would mount a
circus donkey, and off they went. The sleds shot down the
decline with terrific speed and bounded off on to the frozen
lake, sometimes going eight hundred yards before stopping.
But for the snow^ they would have gone much further.
Sometimes a sled would swerve a little or strike a slight ob-
stacle and the Indians would fly off into the air and roll like
bimdles to the lake. A -perpendicular bank about six feet
high stretches around the lake, and this the sleds would
clear with a long leap to the ice below, and he was a good
Indian who stuck.

As the sleds seemed to go equally well without Indians
as with, we concluded to let ours go alone. They behaved
nicely, and clambering down the decline after them we
drew them on across the lake, where they were unloaded,
and we then pulled them back for another load and a slide.
At the end of the lake we cached our provisions and pushed
on with our tent and a few articles to Lake Lindeman. The
trail at this season is not difficult, as trails go in Alaska.
The lakes were frozen and the only impediment on them
was the snow, wdiich in plac-es was soft and wet. The
lengthening days were beginning to have their effect on the
lower lands. Crater Lake is not more than a mile in
diameter, and the outlet is over a lava bed of rough boulders.
Long Lake lies a little lower, and is studded with glaciers.
The traveling becomes tedious, difficult, and slow, and the

LAKE LINDEMAN 93

greatest care must be used in places, the dangers of which
may be hidden by the weakening snow. After passing
Deep Lake, we follow a dim trail, almost indiscernible at
times, and then, from the top of a rough little hill, Lake
Lindeman lies below.

It is said to be less than ten miles from the summit to
Lindeman. It seems twice that distance, but we managed
to bring up our entire outfit in four trips, and were the best
part of three days in doing it. In the summer we were told
the natives maintained what were called ferries on this
chain of little lakes, but the charges were enormous and
many preferred to keep to the trails, trying though they
were.

From the Stone House to the vicinity of Lindeman not
enough wood can be found to start a fire. At first we came
to little clumps of short, scrubby pines or spruce, scarcely
three feet high and twisted into all sorts of fantastic shapes
by the winter gales, but around Lindeman could be found a
few fair-sized trees, though few were over thirty feet high.
They are mainly confined to varieties of spruce, yellow
cedar, hemlock, and balsam fir, but spruce everywhere pre-
dominates, and its lumber resembles that of southern or
pitch pine. The hemlock is less plentiful. White spruce
is the staple timber, and though in some places near running
streams it attains the height of from fifty to one hundred
feet, it is most commonly found below forty, and averaging
about fifteen inches at the butt. It is a fairly clear white
wood, straight grained, and easily worked, light, and yet
very tough. It endures the weather well, and a log
house built of it is good for over twenty years. It abounds
in a light and delicate looking gum, and those addicted to
the chewing-gum habit can always be sure of a supply.

94 SIGNALING BY BURNING TREES

Good timber, however, was not plentiful at Lindeman,
even at this time. Much of it had been burnt off. In the
summer, we are told, when the Indians are resting on their
journeys and are pestered bv insects, they set fire to the
leaves and twigs about them and then sit in the dense smoke
which keeps a few of the mosquitoes at a distance. After
his rest the native goes fonvard without extinguishing his
fire, and as the vegetation is rank and inflammable in the
long summer days, the fire quickly spreads to the trees and
to the forests. The Indian also has a way of signaling by
burning trees. When in a locality wdiere he expects to find
his friends or family, he sets fire to a tall spruce, and then
calmly sits down and watches the horizon for an answering
column of smoke. The wind will fan these flames into a
fierce forest fire in a short time, and the Indians are too ut-
terly indifferent to think of putting them out.

Some gold pilgrims, worn out by the arduous tramp over
the pass, pitched their cainps at Lake Lindeman to await the
]:)reaking up of the ice, meanwhile entering upon the con-
struction of a boat which they fondly hoped would diminish
the tediousness of the further trip. But the ice was in such
excellent condition here and the timber so poor that we de-
cided to push on.

Lake Lindeman is a narrow piece of water six miles long,
hemmed in with ragged hills. It is close to the bound-
ary line between the territory of the United States and that
of Queen Victoria. On the cone of an immense boulder on
the left, as w^e looked down the frozen lake, fluttered the
Stars and Stripes, and from another staff close by waved the
ensign of Great Britain. Both had been tattered in the
gales from the great regions of the Xorth.

A stiff breeze was blowine; in our direction as we started

SLEDDING ON THE ICE 97

from the head of the lake. The snow was not deep except
in spots; so, rigging up sails on our sleds, we fastened them
together, and away we sped with a load of one thousand two
hundred pounds. This was sport. Taking a position on
the back of the sleds we used two long poles as a rudder,
though it was a severe task on the arms. Occasionally we
would run into a drift of snow and the speed would slacken,
or we might stop altogether while the mnd tore over our
sails in a threatening manner. Then we would jump out,
pull tlicm beyond the drift, jump on, and resume our steer-
ing. In this way we made the length of the lake in forty
minutes. Others adopted the same tactics, and the scene
of these ice sleds sailing over the lake, which seemed like a
great canon, was indeed picturesque, and very much
pleasanter than the raft trips made later in the season, when
the wind is likely to " kick up " a lively sea and drench the
poor gold-seeker and his goods. He has usually by this
time become so hardened and so accustomed to the ways of
the country, that he does not mind such a little matter as a
wet skin, and a camp in the snow or on the spongy lowlands.

The portage from Lake Lindeman to Lake Bennett is
along a rocky canal which plunges into a canon filled with
boulders. The stream cut through a wall of granite and
basaltic formation for three-quarters of a mile, and has a fall
of forty feet. The latter part of the portage is over a sandy
ridge, away from the stream and much better traveling.

Here many of the gold-seekers decided to camp and
build their boats, but as the weather was fair and the travel-
ing on the ice easy, we concluded to push to the other end
of the lake, or further, before going into camp. Lake Ben-
nett, so named by Seliwatka after James Gordon Bennett,
is thirtv-four miles Ion"', and from one to two miles in width.

98 NO WORSE TRAVELING THIS SIDE THE MOON

About foiirtG'en miles down, the southwest arm of the lake
joins it, and from its hills fierce winds usually blow. Thus
the trip over the lake is much more comfortable on the ice
than on the water. We made the first trip in one day. The
wind favored us, and we exchanged services with a man who
was endeavoring to take in some horses, which helped us very
materially. On the second trip, however, when compelled
to depend on ourselves, we had head winds, and we were
three days in making the single trip. It was hard work at
that.

At Caribou Crossing, which separates Lake Bennett
from Tagish Lake, we learned that there was some open
water beyond. The crossing is a neck of sluggish river, and
is so named because the caribou use it in their migrations
south in the spring and north in the fall. The ice and snow
were growing very soft under the sun of the lengthening
days, though the air from the peaks continued cold. AVe
determined to halt at Tagish Lake and luiild the craft upon
which we were to depend to take us down the upper waters
of the Yukon.

'' I guess the worst is over for a time," said Joe that
evening, as we sat by the little box of a stove devouring flap-
jacks as fast as they could be cooked., AVe both were
hungry and kept well ahead of the stove.

" Our health has been good, anyhow," I remarked;
" but I don't belicA-e there is any worse traveling this side of
the moon. And there is one consolation, I'm thinking,
Joe, whatever society we have will at least be made up
of persons of grit. Anybody who gets over here has got to
be made of stout stuff, even though it is put together wrong.
If you had just sat down in 'Frisco and told me in detail
what this tramp would be, I think I should have looked on it

HUNGRY PILGRIMS

99

as a rather long and at times agreeable method of premedi-
tated suicide."

" Well, it may amount to that yet," said Joe, as he
turned over another flap jack, eagerly waiting for it to
brown. I had finished mine, and was patiently waiting for
my turn to brown another.

CHAPTER VI

CAMP LIFE IN ALASKA— WE BUILD A BOAT TO CONTINUE
OUlt JOUKNEY— ADVENTUKES WITH BEARS.

Our Camp at Lake Tagish — Building a Boat — The Saw Pit — Pre-
paring the Trees — WhijJ-sawiug — Its Effect on Character — An
Accident — Almost a Quarrel — A Case in Which Angels Would
Lose their Amiability — Spoiling the First Log — "Work it Some-
how"— The Dish-Kag and the Dog — A Bargain — Adventure of a
New Yorker with a Bear and Three Cubs — An Excited Man —
He Empties His Gun and Nearly Kills His Dog — I Lend Him
My Kifle — The Bear Finally Gives It Up ~ Catching the Cubs —
Tough Hams — Our Triumphant Return — An Old Timer's Bear
Story — Face to Face with a Wounded Bear — Playing Possum —
Just in Time — A Narrow Escape — " Dou"t Go Off Half-Cocked."

IT was the first of May wlieii we went into camp near
Tagisli Lake, which is nsnally reckoned as al)ont sixty
miles from Dyca. Although we had made much
better time after crossing the Chilkoot, we had averaged less
than two miles a day on the whole tramp, and now we were
destined to lie in camp for an indefinite tiine while building
our boat and waiting for the river to be safely free of ice.
But this, bear in mind, was before anything was known of
the Klondike. AVhile some were hurrying along as fast as
they could, and faster than was safe, the majority were
taking time, and really enjoying their rough fare in camp
after the ordeals of the pass. The location was very good
for camping purposes, and as four or five other parties were

(100)

BOAT BUILDING AT TAGISH LAKE 101

there building their boats we did not lack for company.
We were also afforded a little opportunity to study the
methods of boat-building in these primitive regions. I
knew nothing at all about the construction of boats and
Joe's experience had been small. Very soon I came
to the conclusion that all the knowledge about boats there
was in the whole camp would not have taken a man far
out to sea. But Joe pretended that he knew all about it,
and I had the greatest confidence in his judgment, mainly
because he had been over the route before.

The first essential in building boats a la Yukon is to
know what constitutes suitable trees, and the next is to find
them. Two logs w^oulcl be sufficient, if they would cut
nine-inch boards, but the great majority of the trees will
not allow it. After roaming about for some time Joe found
three which he thought would do, and these we cut down
and dragged to a place near the lake.

The next essential is a " saw-pit." As little boat-build-
ing had been done at this lake we could not avail oureelves
of what someone else had left, but had to construct a pit of
our own. We hunted about for four trees near the beach,
standing as nearly as possible in the same relation to each
other as the corners of a rectangular parallelogram. These,
when found, we cut off about six feet from the ground,
thus constituting the four legs or support of the platform.
The tops of these stumps were then hollowed out so that
logs could be laid across each pair, that is the narrow sides
of the parallelogram. We fastened these cross-pieces, after
a fashion, with spikes, and the saw-pit was complete. The
only difficulty about this part of the process is that it is hard
work, and takes time, and generally has to be done either
while it rains or while it snows. The man who travels in

102 THE UNHALLOWED WHIP-SAW

Alaska only when the weather is gocxl will make about a
mile a month, on an average. And it is a country of mag-
nificent distances.

The pit being- ready, we squared off the butt ends of
the logs and spotted them, that is, cut them the right length,
and straightened them as well as we could with an axe.
Skids were then placed against the pit and a log was rolled
up to the platform ready to be sawed; also two others to
serve as a sort of foot-rest for the victim destined to stand
above. We then peeled off the bark and sap-wood, and
with a chalk-line marked off two slabs.

" You see," said Joe, " that will give you a good place
on which to stand and see the chalk-marks when we come
to saw off the boards."

It looked very reasonable, like very many other theories
which can be found without taking the trouble and risk
of going to Alaska. "NVe put a wedge under the logs so
as to prevent them from rolling while sawing off the slabs,
and tlien the sa^\ang began; also the trouble.

A whip-saw is a long, coarse-toothed saw, tapering to
one end and with handles fixed to each end at right angles.
It is an invention of the tempter. It ought to be sup-
pressed. No character is strong enough to withstand it.
Two angels could not saw their fii-st log' with one of these
things without getting into a fight.

I learned this gi-adually, however. I had allowed Joe
to boss all proceedings, and when he said that I might stand
on top while sawing off the slabs, I thought, perhaps, that
out of the goodness of his heart he was gi-anting me a con-
siderable privilege, for the man on top has only to pull up
the saw while the one below imlls it down and does the cut-
ting. So up I climbed, and, taking my end of the saw ^^^th

IT PROVOKES PROFANITY 103

a light heart, we worked aw^ay at the butt end of a log for
a while, and finally got the saw started on the chalk line.
As a matter of fact, we both were green at this business.
Pretty soon I was startled at hearing Joe swear. This was
unusual. He was a man who swore only on great occasions.

" What's the matter ? " I asked, looking down, and see-
ing Joe's face distorted and his eyes blinking.

" You mind your own end of it," he answered back,
rather spitefully.

I kept on pulling up the saw with a feeling that I was
doing my duty, Avhen Joe shouted savagely:

" Say, don't you know a chalk-line when you see it ? "

" I'm not doing the sawing," I replied, " you pull the
saw down, and if you don't keep on your mark I can't keep
on mine."

" Well, you just keep her running on your line and I'll
look out for the under one," he retorted. I have not
quoted him exactly. There are certain figures of speech
used by men of strong natures, when angry, that look some-
what harsh in print. I tried to pull the saw towards the
mark, and did so, but soon it got to running the other side;
then I steered it back, and so it went, wobbling around the
line, till Joe, firing another chain-shot of forceful expres-
sions, gave the saw a spiteful pull. The wedges slipped
from under the slippery log I was standing on and it shot
off the pit, saw and all, with a suddenness which would have
turned a firecracker green with envy. I came down on
my back on one of the little stumps under the pit. Joe
stood watching me for a moment as I sat there rubbing sev-
eral of my shorter ribs.

" You're a dandy," he said, as he walked over and ex-
tricated the saw.
7

104 IT ROUSES WRATH

1 felt that he was to blame for giving the saw such a
spiteful pull, and my first impulse was to get up and have
it out with him. We had been good friends for a long
time. We were '' pardners " in all that that word signifies
in a mining camp. We had shared all the hardships of the
tramp, and I would have risked my life any day to save
his, and I knew he would have done the same for me. We
had braved the Chilkoot together and the severities of camp
life in the snow, and here we were at odds over sawing a log;
at odds before we had sawed five feet for the first slab. And
we were to saw enough boards to build a boat.

" See here, Joe," I said at last. " If I am to kill anyone
over this business I'd rather it wouldn't be you. Suppose
I swap off with someone in one of the other parties, and
then you or I can have it out with some other fellow."

But we finally made up, rolled the log up to the pit
again and resumed. We managed to keep quiet for a long
time under the greatest temptations. No two green men
can follow a chalk line on their first log. One will be on
one side of it on top and of course the saw will run on the
other side on the bottom. The first log is nearly always
spoiled and boards three-quarter-inch on one edge and one
and a quarter on the other will be the result. Such boards
will not do for w^ater-tight joints. We spoiled our first log
and had several wordy tussles, and lost four or five days,
and, I am afraid, came near losing our immortal souls. But
finally we got down to work and towards the end sawed out
as nice lumber as could be had at a sawmill. I found that
the man on the under side had the worst of it, after all,
for in pulling the saw down the saw dust spurts into his
eyes, and the chalk-line is a more troublesome thing to
contend with than when on top. It was more trying than

SPECIFIC DIRECTIONS 105

the Chilkoot Pass. Others had similar experiences, and
some of the boats turned out in that camp were fearful and
wonderful to behold. Some of them looked like coffins;
but we discovered afterwards, when we came to some of the
rapids, that looks did not count.

After one of the days of hard work, the one in which
we had at last completed the sawing of the logs, and while
I was washing the supper dishes in the lake through a hole
in the ice, I began to reflect. The experience of whip-
sawing had developed elements of danger which I had not
suspected in the beginning, and I was now in the dark as
to what new surprise might be lurking in the building of
the boat, now that the lumber was ready. Joe was sitting
in front of the tent, enjoying a smoke and the scenery.

" Do you know how to put this lumber together ? " I
asked.

Joe twisted one leg over the other with the air of a man
who knew exactly what was to be done, and was just self-
sacrificing enough to impart a little of his knowledge to
the ignorant.

" It's easy enough," he said. " You see, in the first
place, we must make the frame of her. We'll take some
small poles and set them about two feet apart. The bottom
piece must be ' half-scarfed,' or ' half -checked' ; that is,
cut through at each end half way, at an angle at which the
upright pieces are to stand. Midships the ribs will be
nearly straight up and down, while at the bow they will
be much more inclined. The bottom and sides of the ribs
must be nailed firmly together, and then the boat is ready
to be built. A platform of saw-horses and two planks must
be made, and over these tlie ribs will be laid, bottom up.
for that is the way she will be built."

106 "WORKING IT somehow"

" I hope that's not the way she'll sail," 1 said.

" The center jjlank, or keel piece," continued Joe,
witliont noticing sncli a trivial interruption, " must be nailed
down to the ribs first, and each rib then put in its proper
place from stem to stern. Each bottom-piece must be nailed
on in turn and brought up close. By the way. Bill, did you
bring a boat-clamp ^ "

" Xot that I know of."

'*' I knew we'd forget something we would need, but
we can work it somehow."

I suggested no objections, having by this time learned
that about the only way to do things in Alaska was " to work
it somehow."

" AVhen it comes to putting on the side planks," con-
tinued Joe, " the ribs will have to be shaped a little, so as
to bring the planks up close to them, so as not to have them
rest on sharp edges, for, you see, I am going to give her a
pointed nose and a square stern."

" That seems reasonable and commendable," I said, as T
threw the dish-rag at a dog that was sticking his nose into
one of the kettles, and which thereupon picked up the rag,
ran off a little distance, and began to eat it up. I was be-
ginning to learn something of the ways of the country.

" A stem-piece must be firmly attaqhed to the keel-
piece," continued Joe, " and over this, to protect the bow
of the boat, must be fastened a strip of tough wood, about
three inches thick by four wide. Then comes the caulking.
Anybody can do that."

TVe had cut our lumber twenty-six feet long and eight
inches wide. T suggested to Joe that the lumber did not
seem to me long enough for a boat to take us and all our
provisions.

CATERING FOR THE CAMP 107

But Joe had been clown the river before, and he qnietly
" allowed '' that he knew what sort of a boat was needed.
In fact, I think he rather resented my criticisms, for he
made the projiosition that he should build the boat him-
self, and that I should look after the camp, do the cooking,
and so forth. I agTced to the bargain readily, for I knew
that these duties would give me much spare time, and my
hunting instincts had been aroused by an occasional glimpse
of game in the woods. So Joe kept at work on the boat,
and nearly every day I shouldered my rifle and disappeared
in the woods. Grouse and rabbit w^ere plenty about this
place, and I brought in a great many, so we would have
lived quite like epicures had I made fewer disastrous ex-
periments in cooking. One day I ran across two mountain
sheep, and I saw a good many moose and bear tracks, but
they were difficult to trace, for the snow was nearly off the
ground by this time and everything was beginning to look
green.

One day I started out with two other boys in the camp,
one a fellow by the name of Cook, from New York. We
were simply after any game we could find. Coming to a
small hill in the timber, we separated, I to go one side.
Cook the other, and the third fellow was to go to the top.
I had gone on slowly for perhaps half a mile when I heard
Cook's dog barking, and then Cook began shouting for us
with all the strength of his lungs. I started on a brisk inin,
imagining that he must have come across a dragon by the
way he was shouting. The other fellow came tearing down
the hill, too, and when I reached them they both were look-
ing up a tall spruce and the dog was dancing about in a per-
fect frenzy.

Hanging to the limbs near the top of the tree were four

108 FIRING WIDE OF THE MARK

bears, an old one and t.lircc cubs. Cook had never seen
a bear before outside of a menagerie, and his excitement
was such that he could hardly tell one end of the gun from
the other. But according to the ethics of the woods they
were his bears. His dog bad treed them, and it was bis
privilege to do the shooting. His desire was to kill the
mother and catch the cubs alive. He walked off a few steps
and aimed, but I could see the muzzle of his gun wobbling
like a weather-vane. He had a good, clear chance, but he
did not hit her, nor anything else. But the next time he
fired he crippled her, and down she came with a tremendous
thump at the foot of the tree, wdiere she picked herself up
and faced the dog, which, more brave than discreet, pitched
into her. She gave him a savage little cuff, which sent him
rolling through the underbrush, and Cook, who was scarcely
thirty feet off, fired again and missed her. The dog began
to dance around her again, and at Cook's next shot the dog
ran away with a yelp. The bullet had grazed his neck.

Cook was getting more excited than ever. He emptied
his gun, and though the poor bear was too crippled to keep
her feet she was still lively. I was longing for one shot at
her, but I gave my gun to Cook, and after he had nearly
emptied that the bear gave up the ghost.

" Cook," said I, " if it takes two gunsfor one bear, w^hat
would you do with two liears and one gun ? "

" They die hard, don't they ? "

" Unless you hit 'em."

Then we turned our attention to the cubs. The other
fellow volunteered to go up the tree, and when he had
climbed as far as it would hold him, he cut off the top, and
dowTi the cubs came, one of them getting his back broke.
AVe rushed in to catch the others, and they scratched and

LIVELY LITTLE CUBS 109

bit like demons. The one I had canght hold of was par-
ticularly ferocious, and I carry on one hand a scar which
he gave me. Cook had a tussle with his, but he was better
at catching them alive than shooting them, and, after skin-
ning the old bear and appropriating the hams, we started for
camp, leading the two cubs, while the dog urged them on
from behind.

On the way. Cook slipped in crossing a ravine, dropped
his cord, and in a twinkling his cub was up a tree. We
had to cut oif the top of that one also before we had him
again. We found the hams too tough to eat. That night
one of the cubs broke his chain somehow and got away, so
Cook had only one cub and a bear skin to show for all his
shooting.

Our exploit aroused considerable interest in the little
camp that night, but Cook didn't enjoy it, as much sport
was made of his marksmanship. These brown bears will
sometimes fight very fiercely, and a man needs to keep a
cool head and to be a good shot.

" It would 'a been all day with you," said one of the
old-timers who was coming in with us, " if you had shot like
that when meeting the brown bear I once did. I was down
at Cook's Inlet, washing gold from the beach sand, last year,
and, a cold snap coming on, we were obliged to close work.
I had two Indians with me, and as they were anxious to
make a trip up the bay for some traps, and possibly to get
some bear meat, they asked me for my Winchester rifle in
exchange for a large single-shot. I complied, like a fool,
and one day when I had got l)ack to the cal)in from pros-
pecting, and it was too early to turn in, I went out and sat
down not far from the beach to see if there were signs of
the Indians returning. Suddenly I was thrown into a

110 A STARTLING ENCOUNTER

lluttiT by eceiiig- two big brown bears walking leisurely
along in my direction, not two hundred yards away. I
crawled along in the grass to the cabin, and got the Indian's
ritle, putting some extra cartridges in my pocket. I now
wished for my six-shooter. I crept down towards the bank,
and, sitting down in a cutting, tried to keep myself cool.
Presently the nose of one of them came into view, a short
distance from where I sat, and he saw me, and gave a deep
angry growl. I had a good shot at his head, and he fell
in his tracks. Then I started down the beach for the other.
The report had alarmed him, and he was scampering away.
I dropped on one knee, took a slow aim, and fired. He
wavered a bit ;, evidently, the ball had struck home, but he
turned in around the bank before I could get a second shot.
I tried to track him, but couldn't, and I concluded he had
some hidden shelter. I finally turned towards the cabin,
and put the hammer of the gun down. I had hardly gone
fifty yards, however, when, rounding the edge of some scrub
bushes, I came right on the wounded bear, lying in the
grass. He jumped to his haunches, his mouth streaked
with foam, his eyes glaring defiance, and his whole air was
so ferocious, and I had been taken so by surprise, that I have
to confess I turned and ran. The bear gave instant chase.
AVhen I had gone some distance I triiD]3ed and fell, and,
looking back, expecting to see the bear close by, I saw that
I had gained on him. I recovered my courage, and thought
that if I fired and missed I would still have time to run
on. But I waited too long. When he came within a few
feet he raised himself on his haunches^ and I pulled the
trigger, but, to my horror, it failed to act. I had, in my
excitement, forgotten that I had put down the hamnier.
Before I had time to recover myself he hit me a tennble

PLAYING 'possum 111

blow on my left side. Instinctively I turned my face down-
ward and played 'possum. He came up, sniffed about me,
clawed me once or twice, and walked off' a little ways. My
gun had been thrown off somewhere in the grass and was
out of reach. I lay there for a minute, and finally the bear
came back and clawed me some more. I was beginning to
think he was going to turn me over, when I heard a shot,
and the big bear dropped beside me. The Indians had
come in just in time. When I got up I found that the blow
of the bear had torn clear through my clothing and made
an ugly wound in my side, which was bleeding freely. If
I hadn't played 'possum I should have been a dead man."

Every one appreciated the moral of this tale. When
you are gunning for bear in Alaska, or anywhere else, do not
go off " half-cocked." There was very little game of this
sort about here, nor, indeed, is there much anywhere near
the gold regions. The forest fires started by the Indians
drive away the good game, and the pest of the mosquitoes
in the summer is trying -to the bears. In some parts of
Alaska there is a variety of bear called " silver-tip," which
is very ferocious, and does not wait to be attacked, but
attacks on sight. The miners, unless« traveling in groups
and well armed, give it a wide berth. Though I saw many
moose tracks while I was on my excursions, I never came
across one. It usually requires a three or four days' hunt
to come up with tliem. There are two species of caribou in
the country; one, the ordinary kind, much resembling the
reindeer, and the other called a wood caribou, which is a
much larger and more beautiful animal. The ordinary
caribou runs in herds and is easily approached, and, when
fired at, jumps around and is as likely to run towards one
as from him. At last, when several have been killed, the

112 A LONG RUN

rest will start on a continuous run, and may not stop for
twenty miles. The Indians kill them in large numbers
sometimes, even when they have meat enough. They are
rarely found, I was told, in two successive seasons in the
same place.

The mountain sheep which I found around here were
pure white in color, but otherwise they resemble vers" much
the gray ones found in the lower latitudes. But they have
finer horns, more handsomely curved.

CHAPTEE VII

A DANGEROUS VOYAGE — OVERTURNING OF OUR BOAT —
LOSS OF AN §800 OUTFIT — WE ESCAPE WITH OUR
LIVES — HUNTING FOR A CAMP THIEF.

We Name Our Boat the Tar Stater — More Handsome than Adequate
— Drifting amid Scenes of Wild Grandeur — Magical Vegetation —
Fifty Mile River — At the Mouth of the Canon — We Conclude to
Pack Around — Several Boats Go Through — The Trail — An Offer
to Take the Tar Stater Through for $5 — 1 Am Invited to Ride,
and Accept — A Quick Repentance — Discarding Gum Boots — A
Serious Catastrophe — At the Mercy of the Current — Clinging to
an Overturned Boat — Over Again — Saved — A Four-Minute Ex-
perience — The Milk is Spilled — Loss of an $800 Outfit — Recovering
Our Boat — Towards White Horse Rapids — Disappearance of the
Sugar Saved from the Wreck — I Am Mad — Strapping on My
Gun — Looking for a Camp Thief — Sympathy for Us — A Phase
of Yukon Life.

WHILE I was acting as chief cook and wood-cutter,
and was making excursions for game in tlie
country, Joe kept himself busy with the boat,
and I helped only when it was ready for the caulking. It
was finished in about ten days, and was a very good speci-
men, considering the tools we had to work with. I thought
it looked small for the purpose of carrying our large outfit
through very rough water, but Joe insisted that it was large
enough, in spite of the warnings of one of the old-timers.
But Joe had been over the river as well as the old-timer,
and he was satisfied, I was a fair swimmer, and I knew

(113)

114 A PICTURESQUE REGION

that I could get out of any place that he could, so 1 kept still.
We named her the Tar Staler, in honor of Joe's native
State. Every boat on tlu^ lake had a name, and one could
see all sorts of clumsy-looking boxes carrying the names of
all the States in the Union and of prominent men from
George Washington to Grover Cleveland.

The ice continued to block the lake, being five or six feet
deep in places, but the weather suddenly growing warmer, it
broke and it seemed safe for us to embark. As we piled in
our effects I saw that the boat was going to be pretty full,
but Joe persisted that he knew what we wanted, and so off
we started, w^orking our way through the cakes of ice, and
finding no very open water till we reached the lower end of
the lake, which is about twenty miles long. Running out
from it are long arms, the most prominent of which are
Windy Arm and Taku Arm, reaching far up between the
terraced and evergreen hills. The group lies in a depression
between the coast range and the main range of the Rockies,
and altogether it is a very picturesque region, abounding in
striking promontories with a continuous fringe of wooded
landscape along the banks, and back of them the impressive
mountains seamed mth little glaciers — gleaming like sil-
ver ribbons — while, breaking out here and there, little rivu-
lets leaped down precipitous heights and sometimes rose to
the dignity of torrents. ]\[ile after mile of wildest grandeur
glides by like a continuous panorama.

At the mouth of Windy Lake are three small islands,
and beyond them tower mountains of limestone and marble,
and the beach abounds in marble of various colors. When
we come to a little clear w^ater we find it so transparent that
we can peer to the bottom of the lake and see the fragments
of marble scattered about. From the junction of Taku

POOR STICKS 115

Arm, of which little appears to be known, to the north end
of the lake, the distance is about six miles, and the width
for the greater part of the way is over two miles. It is a
line piece of water, but apparently very shallow.

At the lower end the river issues from it and flows six
miles to Marsh Lake. It is not more than 150 yards wide,
and some of the way not more than six feet deep. On its
bank, about one and a half miles from the lake, the Cana-
dian police and customs officers are stationed. On the other
side are the Tagish houses, or council houses of the little
band of Stick Indians which wander about the lake
country, and which, until recently, were not allowed by the
Tlingit tribes to come down to the coast to trade. The
buildings, though the only ones in the interior of Alaska
with any pretensions to skill in architecture, are little more
than rough enclosures, and the natives are exceedingly poor
specimens of humanity. They have a simple way of dis-
posing of their dead, and one of their buryiug-places can be
seen from the river. The departed one is laid on a pile of
dried logs which have been smeared with grease. A fire is
then started, but the remains are seldom thoroughly burned,
only charred, and over this they hold their funeral services,
which are too complex for the civilized mind. It is their
delight to go to a funeral, and when they are employed in
packing for the miners or upper Yukon travelers they will,
on hearing of a death, at once drop their packs and not re-
turn till the funeral is over.

A little distance below the Tagish houses is the entrance
to Lake Marsh, so named by Schwatka after Prof. O. C.
Marsh of Yale, but most of the miners call it Mud Lake,
though there is no good reason for such a name, and it is
possible that it was originally given to the lower part

116 LAKE MARSH AND MOUNTAIN TERRACES

of Tagisli Lake, which is shallow and in places somewhat
muddy. Lake ]\Iarsh is about twenty miles long and two
miles wide. Its shores are low, flat, and stony, and the
waters are shallow. The boat must be kept to the left bank.
When we went through, it was still full of ice, though it
was rapidly disappearing under the sun, which was now ap-
proaching its long summer course. Along the shores the
vegetation was springing up as if by magic under its con-
tinuous Vv'armth, while the rivulets formed by the melting-
snow and glaciers tumbled over the rocks of the hillsides,
falling in glittering cascades. The surrounding region ap-
peal's low to us after what we have passed through, but it is
picturesque in any season, the great terraces rising to high
ranges on either side and not more than ten miles away.
Prominent on the east stands ]\Iichie Mountain, five thou-
sand five hundred and forty feet in height (so named from
Professor Michie of West Point), and on the west Mounts
Lome and Lansdowne, six thousand four himdred, and six
thousand one hundred and forty feet high, respectively.
Wild fowl are plentiful along the flats, but nothing alive
abounds like the mosquitoes, which begin to come up in
swarms from the swamps.

The traveler finds the names of all the prominent
features of the landscape of recent origin. ISTothing more
clearly indicates the newness of the country. Of course
the natives have long had their names for the prominent ob-
jects, but they are seldom adopted by explorers. It is easier
to go over the Chilkoot than to pronounce them as they pro-
nounce them, for there is nothing in the English language
sounding like their clicking syllables.

ISTear the foot of Marsh Lake a stream called McClintock
Kiver enters, and its valley is but yet little known, though it

ijKrf'^^^

-<P^' ^

:-*tht!

'pa

AT THE ENTRANCE OF THE CANON 119

seems to be large, and it evidently pours in a quantity of the
dirt that forms the shallows of the lake. The outlet of the
lake is called Fifty Mile River, and it is here that the descent
of the Yukon may be said to commence, though it is many
miles further before the great water course really begins.
Here the water flows northwesterly through the great valley
with a current of three miles an hour. From here on we
had open water, and it was a welcome relief after working
our way through so many obstacles. But in the springtime
the banks of the river are constantly caving in and dumping
trees into the stream, which is shallow in many places.
Often we had to poke the nose of the Tar Stater out of the
mud, for in many places the current seemed to ran directly
over these bai^s. The salmon struggle up to this point, and
some of the largest are found here in season, but they never
have the strength to get back, and in the summer large num-
bers of the dead and dying are found here.

After a rapid run down this stream, which twists and
turns like a huge sei-pent in distress, the current becoming
swifter and swifter, we came out into a wide sweep of the
river where the water is still and gives little evidence, except
a dull roar, of the dangers ahead, till the two frowning
walls of the caiion appear. The river above the canon
looks about five hundred feet wide, and it is eight or ten
feet deep. All this has to pour between two bluffs only
about seventy-five feet apart, and rising in perpendicular
grandeur for a hundred feet on either side. We found
many boats along the west bank, and so we landed to take a
look at what was before us.

Climbing to the top of the bluff, we gazed down upon
the mighty current rashing in a perfect mass of milk-whito
foam with a roar intensified by the high walls of rock. The

ViO LIKE CHIPS IN THE CHANNEL

water was boiling through it at such terrific speed that it
ridged u}) in the center, while along the perpendicular banks
it whirled in huge eddies which had a very threatening look.
The clouds of spray gave the water level a snowy appear-
ance. The caiion is about a mile long, and while we stood
there we saw several boats go through at the speed of a race-
horse. But though they bobbed about like chips, they were
generally managed cleverly, and ran through safely. By
hard work they were kept in the middle of the channel, but
occasionally one would get to one side, and be caught in tlie
eddies, and whirled around past all control. It was then a
matter of luck if they went through without a mishap, for
there was the greatest danger of their being dashed against
the steep basaltic sides and smashed. But while we looked
all passed safely through, though we could see that some
shipped considerable water in the big waves.

" Pretty stiff gallop through there, ain't it? " remarked
Joe as we turned to go down the bluff".

" I don't know what you think," said I, " but I know too
little about managing a boat to nni her safely through there.
Besides, Joe, the Tar Stater is too heavily loaded to meet
those waves gracefully."

So we finally agreed to pack our goods around. The
portage path is over the east bluff, is about a mile long, and
the trail is comparatively good. This does not mean that it
is easy. It leads over a high ridge just the length of the
canon, and then descends abruptly with a dizzy incline into
a valley, then, after continuing for some distance along the
cascades, it ascends a sandy hill. It is very difiicult, for
many trees had fallen across it so that it resembled crossing
a lot of hurdles. It leads much of the way through brush
and wooded patches, where the mosquitoes filled the air and

A LAMENTABLE BLUNDER 121

made life miserable. One knows how to fight a big enemy,
bnt a myriad of persistent little ones completely unnerve a
man. On the first trip I took my clothing, bedding, and
gnn, and Joe took a one-lnindrcd-ponnd sack of sugar and
part of a sack of beans. This promised to be a slow process,
and on our way back, as we saw another boat go through
safely with a whole outfit in less time than it took us to fix
a single pack on our backs, Joe began to get braver.

" I know the Tar IStatcr will ride as well as that coffin
did," said he.

Our boat was certainly handsomer than many that went
through without mishap, but I still clung to the idea that it
would not be well to try her till she had been lightened
considerably. When we reached the bank again, we were
approached by two men who were making it a business to
take boats through at five dollars each. They wanted to
take ours. I asked if she ought not to be lightened more,
but after looking at her critically they said she was all right,
indeed, was a pretty trim-looking craft. They had taken
seven through safely that day, and seemed so confident of
their ability that we made the bargain with them, and, as
we must give them the same, loaded or empty, we foolishly
decided to let them take her as she was. It would take two
days to pack our things around the canon, and as several of
our camp friends had gone through we wished to keep pace
with them. One of the men asked me if I would like to
ride through, and I told them I would not mind if I should
not be in the way.

" Jump in," they said, while Joe strolled up to the bluff
to watch us.

We pushed off, and in two minutes my heart failed me,
and I would have given all the gold I ever expected to get in

122 THE TAR-STATER UPSETS IN THE CANON

these regions had 1 staid out. lleturii was impossible. As
we rounded the corner, and looked down through the canon,
I made up my mind that some fine work would be done if the
Tar ^Stater went through those waves all right. I quickly
pulled off my gum boots, thinking that if I should need to
swim I would get along better without those, and then into
the yawning chasm we shot, drawn by a force nothing could
resist.

There is a popular summer amusement called " Shooting
the Chutes," very exciting and very exhilarating, I am told.
A boat-load slides down an incline, and splashes into the
water. But just imagine a boat hurled along on a ridge of
water running a mile in three minutes, and twenty times as
long as your amusing chutes.

The two men started in to manage the boat cleverly
enough. 'Not far from the entrance the boat seemed to
take a fall of several feet, while all the waters in creation
seemed to have fallen into a space seventy-five feet wide.
The moment we struck the first high wave we shipped some
water, at the second we shipped more, at the third it poured
in around the whole outfit, and at the next we were full, and
over we went into the ice-cold water with the worst part of
the canon before us. The boat turned toward the side I
was occupying, and I sprang out so as to avoid being covered
up. The moment I struck the water all fear was gone. It
was easy swimming, for the cuiTcnt took one along whether
he would or not.

When the boat came up she was about ten feet from me,
and it was not easy to reach her, for struggling against the
current was another matter. Finally I caught hold of the
stern and climbed up. As I was swept by one of the other
fellows, I got hold of him and pulled him in so that he could

AT THE MERCY OF ANGRY WATERS 133

clinib up, and a little afterwards the other man was able to
reach us. There the three of us were riding on the bottom
of the boat, which was whirling about in the wildest manner.
As straight as a crow flies runs the canon for an eighth of a
mile. The roar was like a cannonade. On the top of the
blufi^'s which fled by us grew dense forests of spruce which
shut out the sun, and a weird darkness pervaded the deep
and angry channel. The boat shot forward with lightning
speed, leaping like a racer or bucking like a mustang, now
buried out of sight in the foam, and now plunged beneath
a terrific wave. We clung desperately to the bottom as
helpless as flies.

A moment later we came to the worst place in the cur-
rent, where there are three heavy swells, and where those
who are steering boats through incline a little to the left to
avoid the roughest part. But the current was steering us,
and into the swells we dived. The waters swept us from the
slippery keel as if we had been so many leaves. Again we
struggled in the current, and again we caught on to the
whirling boat, for after the swells the water became
smoother, and in a twinkling we shot out of the canon like
a rocket, amid the reefs of boulders and bars thickly
studded with drifts of timber. Two men were waiting at
the foot of the bluffs in a boat, and when they saw us come
out they rowed after us and took us in. Thus we left the
Tar ^ifcr.

I had looked at my watch, which fortunately I carried
in a rubber sack in my pocket, when I got into the
boat at the upper end, and I looked again as we climbed into
the boat which had cojue to our rescue, and saw that we had
had a little over four minutes of experience. 'Some of the
boats o'o throuch in three minutes.

lv'4 BANKRUPT IN FOUR MINUTES

Wet and shivcriiic:, 1 sat down on a rock on the bank and
felt very blue. Ten minutes before we had boasted the best
outfit that any two men we had seen were bringing in;
everything we would need for the next eighteen months.
It was worth over $800, according to the way things sold in
Alaska, and we had lost very many things which could not
be bought on the Yukon. All we had left was the sack of
sugar and a few beans; nothing to cook them in. We had
no tent to sleep in, and we were two hundred and fifty miles
from Juneau and five hundred miles from the nearest trad-
ing post down the river.

As I sat there Joe came dow^i with a grim expression on
his face. He had stood on the bluff and had seen us go
under. He knew^ now that we had been too heavily loaded.

" The Tar l^tater is down yonder somewhere," I said,
with a despondent gesture towards the rushing river. I
thought I would not be rough on the poor fellow.

" Well, the milk is spilled," he said, giving the forlorn
bag of beans a kick.

" And this region doesn't flow with milk and honey," I
added.

We walked along down the river, and about a mile and a
half below^ we found the Tar Stater, bottom up, and her
nose tucked into a crack in the rocks by the bank in such a
manner as to be held fast. She was somewhat strained, and
needed recaulking. We dragged her up to the rocks, and
Joe looked at her mournfully. I could not withstand the
temptation.

" The Tar ^^tater is a dandy in rough water," I said,
and I could see that Joe was badly hurt. Then I was sorry,
and tried to make amends by saying that she would have
gone through with flying colors had we only taken the pre-

THE WORST PIECE OP WATER ON THE YUKON 125

caution to carry part of the load arovind the caiion. " She
is too trim for heavy work," I added.

On the next day a boat was overturned in running
through, and two men were drowned. It was a sad ending
to the hard voyage of two gold-seekers, but all along the
river are the little marks which tell of similar cases. There
were several parties camped at the lower end of the canon,
including some of the friends we had made at Lake Tagish.
They were very kind to us, so that we managed very com-
fortably while we were getting our boat ready. This did
not take much time, and, having secured a set of oars, we
loaded in all that remained of our costly outfit and pro-
ceeded down the river.

Below the canon there is a stretch of somewhat milder
rapids, or cascades, for nearly three miles, and then after a
little smooth water we arrived at the White Horse Rapids,
which are justly considered more dangerous than the canon,
but it is less on account of the swift current than of the
formation of the passage, it being full of sunken rocks. It
is, on the whole, the worst piece of water on the Yukon, and
no one should ever attempt to take their outfit through. Of
course, we were no longer hampered in this way.

In coming up to these rapids one must land on the west
bank, which is formed of steep rocks, and the place is very
difficult cither for managing a boat, or for getting a burden
up to the portage. Many drag their boats over the trail,
l)ut it is difficult work and requires several men to pull a
loaded boat around in a day. To get the boats up over the
rocks the miners had constructed a crude windlass. But
most of those on the way with us determined to caiTy their
goods around, and then shoot the rapids in empty boats.

We lined the Tar >itater down the side, and then went

I'^G THEFT A CARDINAL SIN

up to wnti'li ]n'()ceedings and to lit'lji one of tlie other boys
down with his boat. We were gone some little time, and
when we returned to our boat the sack of sugar was missing.
I was mad. Some villain had stolen the most valual)le part
of the provisions w'e had saved from the wreck; that was
about all we had left of that eight-hundred-dollar outfit.
I strapped on my six-shooter and went hunting for that
sugar with a vengeance. Theft is one of the worst crimes
a man can commit in this country, and it is not common.
Only tcnderfeet who have not outgrown the privileges of
life in civilized regions will dare commit it. Generally,
anything can be left with perfect safety on the trails, provid-
ing it is out of the reach of dogs. There are no storehouses,
and traveling necessitates leaAdng articles of value all along
the route. Traveling would be impossible but for a rigid
regard for other people's property. It is the unwa-itten law
of the land, and it comes as naturally to the Indians as to
any one. Morose, superstitious, utterly ungrateful, and
never to be believed, these Indians rarely touch a thing that
belongs to any one else. They will leave their own belong-
ings all along the trail, and they will be often passed, but
no one thinks of touching them. They know they will be
there when they return.

I knew it was some white man who had taken the sugar,
and I went through the boats with fire in my eye. It would
have been easy to find it had it been there, but it was not.
On the other hand, everybody was in perfect sympathy with
my attempt to find the thief, and if he had been found they
tvould liave given liim, then and there, wdiat, in the ])arlance
of the Yukon, is called a " jig-in-air " at the end of a rope.
It was lucky, perhaps, that I did not find him, for I was in a
dangerous mood. I could have shot him dead and no one

A CROWD OF SYMPATHIZERS 127

would have said a word against it. I should have been criti-
cised if I had failed to.

Two or three boats had gone on through the rapids, and
the thief had evidently taken the sack just as he was putting
off, in the expectation of escaping safely. It would not
have been so serious had he taken something from a party
that was well-stocked with provisions, but taking it from
us who had lost nearly everything but that, was sufficient
to raise the indignation of the whole camp to the boiling
point. The fellows offered us all we wanted. We suf-
fered for nothing. We could make ourselves at home in
any tent there.

There are some rare qualities in the rough breasts of the
pilgrims of the Yukon, a consideration for the condition of
others which is not always found in a softer climate and in
an easier life.

CHAPTEE VIII

SOME THRILLING EXPERIENCES — DISCOVERY OF THE
THIEF — HIS SUMMARY PUNISHMENT— PICTURES BY
THE WAY.

Through the White Horse Rapids in an Empty Boat — Close Shave for
tlie Tar Stater — Rough to Experience but Interesting to Watch —
Overtaking Three Boats — I find the Sack of Sugar and tlie Thief
— Swift Preparations for a Lynching Bee — "Say the Word and Up
He Goes " — I Refuse — " Nothing Less Than Fifty Lashes, Then " —
I Administer Them on the Thief's Bare Back — The Victim Becomes
a Good Citizen — Lake Lebarge and Tagish Indians — Eggs for a
Change — In the Twilight of the Midnight — Nature in Her Great
Work — Cutting Down Hills and Valleys — Where Eagles Nest —
Twisting and Turning — Five Fingers — Rink Rapids — Arrival at
Fort Selkirk — A Touch of Civilization — The Route Marked with
Graves of the Fallen — Reflections on the Journey.

THERE were, as I remember, six boats witb ours at
the entrance of Wliite Horse Rapids, and we all
went throngh in safety, but it was a thrilling ex-
perience. We were swept along over the raging torrent,
which here and there throws white spray into the air, a
fact from which the rapids take their name. The foaming
waves seem to come from every direction. Ragged rocks
liang over the passage, the current sncking in under them,
and at times we could have reached up and touched the
rocks with our hands had we cared to. We had too much
to do for amusement of that kind. The rapids extend
straight away for nearly a quarter of a mile, and then take

(128)

SHOOTING WHITE HORSE RAPIDS , 129

an abrupt turn to the right. It is after passing the turn
tliat the most dangerous part is encountered.

With a stream that is two hundred yards wide, full of
ugly boulders, coupled with a fall of two hundred feet in
five-eighths of a mile, it is no wonder that this stretch of river
has become the terror of Alaskan gold-hunters. If the cur-
rent in the canon appeared to speed along with the swiftness
of an arrow, that in the rapids seemed to equal the flight of
a swift bird. The last hundred yards of the journey was
particularly dangerous. At the spot called the " White
Horse " the waters tumbled and tossed in most fantastic
fashion, piling up the spray in long white columns ten or
twelve feet high. There is a sheer fall of nine feet at that
point.

'' Joe, we're goners sure," I shouted, holding on in terror.
But the Tar Stater took the plunge in a way that gladdened
our hearts. True, it seemed that we would never come
up; and, when we did, it looked as though we would
never come down. Into the air the bow went, and when
the boat again struck the water flew over us in a torrent.
We thought that the next moment would see the Tar
Stater sink, but she did not. I think it was the swiftness of
the current that kept her afloat. At any rate, we reached
shore safely, but wet through to the skin. If anybody
imagines that shooting the White Horse Rapids is easy or
pleasant he is very much mistaken.

There may be some pleasure in boasting of having shot
these fearful Avaters, but it is the height of folly to run the
risk. Many go through safely in empty boats, but they are
at the mercy of as angry a bit of water as there is in Alaska,
and there are a great many such places. The summer before
we went through, it was said that thirteen persons lost their

130 SUGGESTIONS OF GLACIAL DAYS

lives there, and all because they preferred to take the risk
than to drag the boat around. It requires but a minute or
so to shoot through, but days to get an outfit around.

Terrible as is the experience, there are few places more
sublime to the view. Standing on the bank in safety, the
eye is charmed by the waters that leap and foam around
the highly-colored rocks. You may watch it for hours
and turn away with regret, and if the eye wanders off it
rests on the somber stretches of trees, in their varying colors,
the luxuriant grass, and the tundra, while standing like
ghostly sentinels over all are the snowy peaks in the dis-
tance. Everything is on a grand scale, and one acquires a
faint realization of what this planet must have been in those
untrimmed, uncut, glacial times when the earth was dotted
^^'ith raging waters like these, and mammoths stalked or
crawled about the gloomy hillsides.

Below the rapids the river flows swiftly on for several
miles, much of the time between gravel banks, but the
water is smooth, the banks one hundred and fifty yards
apart, and no obstacles except bars appear; so we made good
progress. The current becomes less and less as the river
turns northward through the same wide valley. The Ijluffs
along the bank are of white silt, which gives a cloudy yellow
tint to the waters. About thirteen miles down we come to
the mouth of the Tahkheena River, a muddy stream about
seventy-five yards wide, flowing in from the west. Its
sources are near the Chilkat Pass, and its waters flow through
a large body of water named Arkell Lake, not far from the
Dalton trail. Tt is said to have been formerly used by the
Chilkat Indians in reaching the interior, but now it is
seldom used, though its waters are said to be navigable from
the head of the lake down.

"hang the man who steals anything!" 131

Onr little party of six or seven boats kept close together
as we drifted down the rapid stream, and, towards evening,
as we were looking along the banks for a good place to camp,
we came upon three boats and a little camp back from the
bank. I had not forgotten the sngar; neither had the
others. We disembarked with assnmed indifference, bnt
I immediately raised some consternation by going through
the boats. In one of them I found a sack of sugar.

In less that a minute that boat and the man claiming
it were covered with a dozen guns, but I was somewhat
surprised to see my friends put a rope around his neck and
lead him struggling towards a tree. The day before, when
I was boiling with rage, I might not have said a word. I
knew how heinous the crime of theft was considered in
Alaska. But now I was somewhat taken aback by the
swiftness with which my friends proposed to mete out jus-
tice. The man could say nothing. He was badly fright-
ened, and those who had been with him on the bank made
no protest; and, if they had, we were too many for them.

The rope was thrown over the limb of a neighboring
tree, and a half a dozen men caught hold of it ready to pull.

" Hold on a minute, boys," I said. " It strikes me it's
pretty tough to hang a man for stealing a sack of sugar."

'' Hang the man who steals anything! " said one of the
old timers.

" But I don't want to be too cruel on the fellow," I re-
])licd. " He may know better next time."

The poor fellow was trembling like a leaf. His face
was ghastly pale, and he looked at me with beseeching eyes.

" Wal, it's your sugar," said one of the men, " and all
you've got to do is to say the word and up he goes."

" I won't do it," said I. " Settle it some other way."

132 EFFICACY OF THE LASH

" He's got to be punished somehow," said the old-timer,
in a determined tone, " and, if yon don't want to have him
pulled up, you'll have to give him the lash. We sometimes
does that."

" All right," I said, knowing that some form of punish-
ment would certainly have to be administered.

So they made him take off his clothes down to his bare
back, tied his hands together, and swung him up so that his
toes barely touched the ground.

" Kothin' less than fifty lashes," said the old-timer,
handing me a piece of rope. So I began to lay it on, and
the more I did so, the more T began to think he deser\'ed it.
He stood it remarkably well, but finally began to cry w^itli
pain, and I stopped.

" Xothin' less than fifty," shouted the old-timer.

So I kept on till the number Avas reached. It was a
pretty tough-looking back he had when I finished, and he
drew^ his shirt on with the greatest care.

I came to know that man very well later on. Strange
as it may appear, we grew to be friends, and he made a good
citizen of Alaska. I never knew of his again taking a thing
belonging to another. These primitive methods of punish-
ment are quite effectual, after all. There would be fewer
burglars and sneak thieves in the States if the lash were
used publicly, instead of the so-called enlightened method
of retiring them to a rather agreeable life in a prison, to
which they take their own evil natures, and w'here they
exchange lessons in criminality with their prison associates.

Proceeding a few miles further, we arrived at Lake Le-
barge, which lies nearly north and south, surrounded by
mountains, those on the southeast presenting very abrupt
and castellated forms, with summits of white limestone. It

LAKE LEBARGE 133

is tliirty-one miles long with an average breadth of nearly
five miles. Its southern half is somewhat wider, but then
it narrows down to about two miles for a distance of about
seven miles, and at the north end expands to about four
miles again. The western shore is indented with shallow
little bays. Just before reaching the place where it nar-
rows there is a large island, the southern end flat, with gravel
banks, and the other end rocky. The rocks are a bright
red, and makes a very pretty picture against the other colors
along the shore.

The lake is about two thousand feet above the sea-level,
and we found it rough sailing most of the time, though the
wind held in our direction. Its rough w^ater is usually
dreaded by miners, who sometimes are forced to camp on its
banks for several days, till the wind goes down. The whole
valley seems to be a great trough, sucking inland the south-
erly winds, which are apt to prevail in the summer montlis.

It is a favorite spot for the Tagish Indians, exceedingly
filthy and degraded creatures, who will bargain almost any-
thing they have for a little whisky, for which they have
acquired a taste through the expanding trade of our Chris-
tianized countries. The missionaries came at the same time,
but their efforts have little effect on them. To them, the
greatest importation of civilization is " fire-water."

We made good progress on Lake Lebarge, in spite of its
roughness. Other names have been given this body of
water, and the Indians have one of their own. Its common
name is derived from one Mike Lebarge, who not many
years ago was engaged by the Western LTnion Telegra]ih
Company, exploring the river and adjacent country for the
purpose of connecting Europe and America by a telegraph
line overland, except for the short distance at Bering Strait.

13-i IN THE BLAZE OF THE ARCTIC SUN

The days had become so long by this tiiiie that we could
travel nearly all the time, stopping only now and then for
a square meal. It will be difiicult for anyone who has not
been in the Arctic regions to form a good idea of the pictur-
esque features of a sail along one of these lakes at this time
of year. The shore of the large lake is fringed with a line
of trees, which stretch back over the low hills, but over the
tops of these trees towers the white line of mountains miles
away. And above these mountains is the canopy of heaven.
Around this circles the blazing sun, hour after hour. One
does not realize what a relief the darkness is till he comes to
a region like this, at a time when there is no darkness.

On we drifted, over the ruffled waters, taking a cold
lunch when hungry, but without any adequate realization
of the time of day, unless we looked at our watches. Finally
the sun set, and Venus was the only star which became
dimly visible in the twilight of midnight.

About half way down the lake is a large bare rock,
where flocks of gulls make their home. Eggs are a great
luxury in Alaska, and we laid in as good a supply as we
could and feasted on them for several days. One can
scarcely appreciate the amount of pleasure there is in in-
stituting a little variety in Alaskan diet, for the appetite
knows no bounds, and the staple food is extremely limited
in variety. Besides, since the loss of our outfit we had been
obliged to use our money to buy what stores the others could
spare, though they were very kind, and would have given
us food at any time had we asked it. I kept my eyes on the
shore most of the time, in the hopes of seeing game, and
although I found enough to ]irovide us with many good
meals, I could not fail to notice that it was becoming more
and more scarce.

GREAT TRIBUTARIES OF THE YUKON 135

The Lewis river, as it flows out of tlie lake, is about two
hundred yards wide, and for about five miles preserves this
width, and a swift current of from four to six miles an hour.
It then makes a sharp turn about a low gravel point, and
flows for a mile in a direction opposite to its general course,
when again it sharply resumes its way nortliAvard. Twenty-
seven miles down we come to a great tributary from the
southeast, the Teslin Eiver, as it is now called, as it drains
the great Teslin Lake; but tlie miners call it by its Indian
name, the Hootalinkwa. Schwatka called it the I^ewberry,
and Dr. Dawson had given it the name of Teslintoo; from
which it appears that names in Alaska are sometimes uncer-
tain, and time alone will tell which name will prevail. We
were told by the Indians that gold could be found on this
stream, but few explorations of it appeared to have been
made.

The water of the Teslin is of dark brown color. In-
deed, one cannot fail to notice, at least in the spring of the
year, the amount of dirt these streams are carrying down.
It is another feature of a fact that strikes a traveler at every
point, the immense amount of work that Nature is doing
in these regions. The country in the section we have re-
cently passed is extremely mountainous, with torrents plung-
ing down througli the rough valleys from the eternal snows.
The water in the lakes appears to be remarkably clear, but
as soon as we touch any of the connecting streams we notice
that they are so full of sediment that one cannot see an
jnch below the surface.

If a basinful is taken out and allowed to stand until it
clears, a thick deposit of mud is found at the l)ottom. The
current boils and flows very rapidly, and as the boat glided
along a sound was heard almost like that of frying fat. It

130 nature's forces in action

was onlv the constant friction on the boat of the immense
amount of large particles of earth whieli the water was carry-
ing in suspension. This is noticeable all along the river, and
is an indication of the wearing-down process that is con-
stantly going on in this great country. It furnishes the
reason for the shifting bars which exist on the lower Yukon,
and for the difficulties that prevail at its mouth. AVhen time
has done its work, the shores of x\laska, about the mouth
of its great river, will be pushed out much further into the
Pacific.

As we proceeded down the ri^^'er we easily saw whence
comes all this material. Along the silt and sand bluffs,
loose material is constantly falling into the stream. These
little landslides, occurring all the time, except in the months
when everything is frozen, result in an immense amount of
dirt being dumped into the river. We should be surprised
if it w^ere measured. I had read how ISTature worked
through countless ages, l»ut I never realized the extent, the
capability of the mighty forces, till I took that first trip down
the upper Yukon region. But while we see Xature work-
ing in an earlier process than that to which we are accus-
tomed, one is appalled to think how long she has been work-
ing even here. For all those mighty canons which we have
seen, and through some of which we have barely escaped
with our lives, have been worn out by the torrents. These
great rocks and boulders, which fill the stream and around
which the swift current plays, have been rolled down from
the mountains by the receding glaciers.

"\Ye found these huge boulders a great obstacle all the
way down this part of the river. Sometimes it was all we
both could do to handle the boat. The current would carrv
us against them before we could stop it, but we managed

A WINDING RIVER 137

much better than some of our friends with headed boats.
Many of them bumped into the rocks, and one man lost
nearly half his outfit.

About thirty-three miles below the mouth of the Teslin
River the Big Salmon pours into the Lewis. Thirty-four
miles more and we come to the Little Salmon, which is sixty
yards wide at its mouth, and is shallow. Here the valley
becomes so broad that no mountains are in sight, only low
hills, at a distance from the bank. The Lewis makes a
turn to the southwest, and after running six miles it turns
again to the northwest; then, at the end of seven miles, to
the southwest again, around a low, sandy point. Thus we
proceeded for twenty miles or more, without gaining more
than five in our northern course. The first turn is around
Eagle's Nest Eock, wdiich stands up on the slope of the
eastern bank, and in it is a huge cavern, where it is said gray
eagles rear their young. It is composed of light gray stone
and rises fully five hundred feet above the river.

About thirty miles further on, another river, the jSTor-
denskiuld, draining a chain of lakes far to the westward,
empties into the Le^vis, which continues its course with a
width of from two hundred to three hundred yards, occa-
sionally expanding as it flows around little islands. Its
course is very crooked, and near the mouth of the ISTordens-
kiold it winds under a hill, and away from it several times,
once for a distance of eight miles, and after making all
these turns it has gained but a mile. From this the river
flows on in a straight course to the Five Finger Rapids.

We did not stop to look at this place, but ran right in,

and soon were bobbing about like a chip on the whirling

current. It is a cataract of ferocious mien, but not at all

dangerous, as a boat can. be easily kept away from the haz-

9

138 FIVE-FINGER AND RINK RAPIDS

anions points. As in the (irand canon, the water rolls away
from the sides and is ridged in the center. Just before
entering the rapids there is a whirlpool, which is studiously
avoided, though it is not dangerous. If a boat gets caught
in it she is liable to be whirled about in it for some tune be-
fore being released.

The current continues very rapid for six miles below
Five Fingers, so-named because of the five large rocks
standing in mid-channel, and then we began to hear the
roar of the Rink Rapids. They make a great deal of noise,
but are not dangerous, as the only obstruction is on the west
side, where the water pours over the rocks. On the east
side the current is smooth and the water deep, and a boat
can run through without the slightest difficulty.

For fifty-eight miles, the distance between the Five-
Finger Rapids and the place where the Pelly River unites
with the Lewis and forms the great Yukon, no streams of
any importance appear. The river continues through a
pleasant landscape for the whole distance without the slight-
est indication of civilization. About a mile below the rapids
the stream spreads out, and many little islands appear. We
passed in and out among these islands for about three miles,
when the liver contracted to its usual width, but islands
and bars were common all the way, and the current is about
five miles an hour.

After passing a long bank called Hoochecoo Bluff, the
river again spreads out into a very archipelago. For three
or four miles it is nearly a mile from bank to bank, but so
close and numerous are the little islands that it is often diffi-
cult to tell where the shores of the river are.

At the confluence of the Pelly and the Lewis the
country is low, with extensive terraced flats, running back

LAYING IN NEW SUPPLIES 139

to rounded liills and ridges. The Pelly is about two
hundred yards wide at its mouth, and from here these great
w^aters flow swiftly on in an uninterrupted course one
thousand six hundred and fifty miles to the Bering Sea.

The Yukon, below the junction, averages about a quar-
ter of a mile wide, with a current which carries everything
swiftly along. It is dotted by many little islands, and we
quickly came to the ruins of old Fort Selkirk, a trading post
which was established by the Hudson Bay Company in
1848. Indians pillaged and set fire to it in 1853, leaving
nothing but the remains of two chimneys, which are still
standing. The place has been put to some later uses, how-
ever, an English church mission and an Indian village being-
established there, and for some time Arthur Harper, whom
we have already mentioned as a pioneer in these regions,
maintained a trading post there.

Here we were enabled to use some of the money we
had brought along in case of emergency, and which we had
saved by packing our goods, in the purchase of new sup-
plies, but it did not enable us to put in all we could wish,
for goods are high after they have been brought up the long
Yukon. But we were glad to have a tent again, and some
articles which are a prime necessity in such a country. We
felt as if w^e had again come in touch with civilization.

We had made good time from the lakes and were in good
health, but it had been a long, hard voyage, and it always
will be, in any time of the year, till modern methods of
communication have overcome some of the terrible ob-
stacles. All along the route wo had noted the graves of
those who have been lost in previous years on this route.
Both Indians and white men have fallen in the struggle
to press into the gregt valley of the Yukon by the Dyea

140 A SENSE OF GRATITUDE

trail. Ami avc licai'd of others, besides tlie two drowned
in the canon, who lost their lives that same spring in wdiich
we came in. One man was killed in the Five Finger rapids,
bnt fJoe and I were safe at last on the waters of the mighty
river, and he avIio will never stop to think of an overruling
Providence in the feverish rush of life in the busy centers
of the United States, mnst in these immense regions, where
he feels so small, where he finds so little to measnre him-
self by, feel a sense of gratitnde filling his whole being as
lie stands strong and imhnrt at the end of such a voyage.

CHAPTER IX

LIFE ON A YUKON POST — OUR FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE
KLONDIKE — HOW MINERS ADMINISTER JUSTICE IN
ALASKA — THE PLAGUE OF MOSQUITOES.

Tlie Latest News — The Swift Yukon and Its Branches — The Upper
Ramparts — White River and Its Probable Sources — Stewart River
and the Tales of Indians — Reports of Prospectors — Sixty Mile
Creek — Passing the Mouth of the Troan-Dik or Klondike — Its
Various Names and How They Were Obtained — A Peep at the
Moose Pasture — Moose Skin Mountain — Old Fort Reliance — Forty
Mile and Its Institutions — Justice as Administered at Miners'
Meetings — A Little German's Trouble — French Joe's Experience

— A Tailor and His Bill — The Canadian Police — A Plague of
Mosquitoes — How They Operate and How Their Bites Work —
Old Pharaoh's Troubles Not a Circumstance — What Miners Suffer

— No Preventive Sufficient — Tough Miners Sit and Cry — More
Indian Tales — Bears and Dogs in a Frenzy — Frost Comes as a
Blessing.

THERE were many inquiries at the trading post as to
the news of the day. TvTot having been burdened
witli a heavy outfit after leaving the canon, we
were among the first to put in an appearance at the post that
spring. In the winter montlis tlie posts along the Yukon
are practically cut off from civilization, and they can only
imagine what is happening as the world moves rapidly on.
No hermit is so secluded. But naturally we had little of
recent date to tell. Nearly three months had elapsed since
we had set out from Snn Francisco. Joe, who took more in-
terest in political affairs than I did, in reply to many (pies-

(141)

143 ALONG THE HURRYING RIVER

tions narrated to eager listeners events on the Pacitic coast
wliicli had then receded into the forgotten past. An okl
newspaper which we had bronght in, wrapped about some
of my clothing, was read with all tlie eagerness with which
a starving man would eat. This serves to sho\v how remote
Alaska is from the world most of the year.

We were still about three hundred and eighty miles from
Circle City, to which we were destined, and which was then
the center of the mining interest in this great territory. So
with our new supplies and a few tools needed by t!ie pros-
pector, we resumed our way. Below the fort and for a dis-
tance of ninety-six miles to the mouth of the White River,
the Yukon maintains its width of from four to six hundred
yards, and its course is a little north of west. The current
continues swift, over four miles an liour on the surface, and
so numerous are the little islands that there is no part of the
river where one or more cannot be seen. Gravel bars
abound, but cause no trouble. It is a broad, majestic,
hurrying river, displaying some of the grandest views eyes
ever beheld.

We drifted on with but few stops, and those were brief.
It made no difference whether it was night or day — it was
nearly all daylight then. The circling sun would dip be-
hind the hills or the bluffs along the river for a little while,
and a sort of twilight would fall on the majestic scene, the
heat would suddenly disappear, and for a couple of hours
the frost in the ground would fill the air with a cold moist-
ure. Then the sun would come up again, and for twenty
hours pour its blazing heat on the broad valley. Under its
influence the grass rises to phenomenal height, and so bright
a green is seldom seen. All day long, and night, too, birds
W'ith unfamiliar voices were singing about us, seeming to

A LONG AND HARD JOURNEY OVER THE SKAGWAY TRAH^.

Entrance to the canon. Two Klondikers with heavy packs making their
way on foot through the deep snow.

PICTURESQUE PLACES 145

mock the trials of mankind and tlieir greedy rush for gold,
and occasionally we caught sight of a bit of game — a
moose too far away for us to reach, or a duck, too hard a shot
for me with a rifle. Had we possessed the proper weapon
w^e could have feasted on ducks and geese. They are very
plentiful, and every Yukon man should have a shotgun.
We stopped upon the banks but little, never except for a
substantial meal, for the mosquitoes make camp life an ex-
cruciating experience. Joe slept while I managed the
boat; and then he took his turn at the oar, and I would catch
a nap.

Upper Ramparts is one of the most picturesque places
in Alaska. Steep basaltic bluffs tower like monster cathe-
drals along the banks. The lights and shadows work unique
effects among their rocks, standing out like minarets from
the walls.

About thirty miles below the fort a little stream called
Selwyn River enters the Yukon from the south. Good tim-
ber abounds in its valley, and we saw men getting out the
logs ready to float down the river to places where they are
needed for houses. White River comes in from the west
about seventy miles further on, and after the Yukon has re-
sumed its northerly course. It is a powerful river, about
two hundred yards wide at its mouth, and it plunges down
loaded with silt over ever-shifting bars, the main channel
being not more than a hundred yards in width. The current
is not less than ten miles an hour, and its name is derived
from the milky ajDpearance of its waters. With numerous
other creeks so much easier to ascend, this river has been
neglected by prospectors, and its source is somewhat prob-
lematical, though the Indians say that it rises far inland
near an active volcano. For aught that may be known, the

146 GOLD AND GAME

richest gold fields in the world may lie near the sources of
this great Avatercourse so turbid and rapid at its mouth.

Between AVhite and Stewart rivers, ten miles, the
Yukon spreads out to a mile in width, and is a maze of
islands and bars between wonderful banks.

The Stewart River enters from the east through the
middle of a wide valley; the current is slow and the water
dark colored. While camping here for a brief space we
encountered a small party of miners who had been pros-
pecting on the river above. They had found considerable
gold on the bars, and were returning for provisions, but
they told us that it would depend upon how other points on
the river turned out whether they returned to the Stewart.
They had done most of their digging in the bars along the
river, and had not explored the creeks running into it.

The current above, they told us, is swift, and it is neces-
sary to pole boats up the stream. The banks for some dis-
tance from the mouth are steep and uninviting. Further
up they found bars and the river bottom covered with grass.
They had been compelled to go into camp about forty miles
up, because of high w^ater, and, while there, had found
plenty of game, including moose and bear. The fish w^ere
also good. They said that on some of the upper bars they
had found gold which yielded over twenty dollars per day,
but they found the digging was irregular because of the
high water at times. From what information they had
acquired from the Indians, who declined to ascend the river,
there exists a very savage tribe of Indians, holding the coun-
try around its sources. They are at war with the other
Indians lower down, occupying a stronghold in a moun-
tainous wilderness, and they will not permit any white man
or other Indian to enter their territory. They make their

IN THE MINING REGION 147

living" by Imnting, occasionally bringing their fnrs down to
the trading points, getting gnns and such ether things as
they desire in return. These Indians, it is said, are met
about two hundred miles up the river. But there are few
things more unreliable than Indian stories. White pros-
pectors have not met these Indians in their explorations.
At some time they may have existed there, thus giving
ground for the tradition. The prospectors had no informa-
tion which could tempt us to turn aside, and we concluded
to waste no time on the river.

About twenty-three miles below the Stewart a small
stream enters from the west, called Sixty-Mile Creek. We
are now in the region of the miners. This stream has been
prospected all the way to its sources, and gold had been
found nearly everywhere, but not in rich quantities except
on two creeks. A few miners were working there. For
some time after the discovery of Miller and Glacier creeks
the diggings there were considered the richest in the region,
but the more recent discoveries on Birch Creek had drawn
the miners in that direction, and the year before a rich spot
called Mosquito Creek, an appropriate name for any creek
in the river, had been discovered running into Forty Mile
River. At the time we came into the regions this creek
was making the sensation.

So we pushed on, passing Indian River, a stream
destined to gain great notoriety, but then considered of no
particular account. A little further on we passed another
stream about forty yards wide at its mouth, which emptied
into the Yukon from the east. The Indians called it Troan-
T)ik, or Thron-Diuck. As to how the Indian appellation of
this stream should be spelled, and what it means, there is
considerable uncertainty, which, however, is not strange

148 EVOLUTION OF THE WORD "•KLONDIKE"

considering" the difficnlty of putting into Englisli characters
anything which an Indian pronounces, and the further dif-
ficulty of securing from an Indian of these parts an intel-
ligible idea of what he means by anything he says in his own
language. According to some, the name of this river means
'' water full of fish." According to others, it takes its name
from the fact that, the stream being swift, the Indians have
to set their salmon traps or nets by driving in stakes with a
hammer, and so they gave it the name Troan-Dik or Ham-
mer Creek. The sure thing about it is that it seems to have
something to do with fish. The miners, probably in an
effort to cast into phonetic English the Indian pronuncia-
tion, had in 1896 fallen in the habit of calling it Cluned^'ke.
It should be remembered that when one of the natives of
this region pronounces one of his words he does it as if he
were doing his best to strangle himself with it, and the effect
is as if he just barely escaped doing it.

In 1883, when Schwatka rafted down the Yukon, he
camped at the mouth of this stream, and according to his re-
ports he found that the traders called it Deer Creek " from
the large number of caribou or woodland reindeer seen in
its valley at certain times of their migrations." The valley
looked as though it might abound in moose and caribou, and
for years it had been a fa^'orite fishing ground for the In-
dians Avho were waiting for the salmon to run up.

AVe floated by in blissful ignorance of what lay under
the tundra of its creeks, and no one would have suspected
that in a few weeks there would be a lively city on
the swamp near its mouth, and that a pushing civilization
would have transformed the Indian's Troan-Dik and the
miner's Clunedyke into Klondike, a word which philologic-
ally means absolutely nothing except that your practical

AN INVITING STREAM 149

civilization does about as it pleases in naming things, and
that when it does it that ends the matter.

The Indian name for one of the landmarks near the
month of the stream is, when translated to the best of hnman
ability, Moose-Skin Monntain, a name that is likely to ad-
here to it, nnless at some time some one finds something
there except the monntain, and practical civilization takes
liberties with the native appellation.

I conld not fail to notice as we floated past this region,
the river being qnite narrow here, its inviting aspect for
hnnters and fishermen, and but for the fact that we were
now anxious to arrive at the center of the gold diggings we
might have stopped a day to see what we could bag in this
moose pasture.

Proceeding on, we passed old Fort Reliance, an old
private trading post of no great present importance, the
stream flowing in from the east called by Schwatka the
Chandindu, and a little over thirty miles further we come
to Forty Mile, which for years had been considered one of
the richest sections in the territory, and had been one of the
chief attractions to those who had braved the difficnlt trails
from the coast.

Joe and I landed here, and for the first time entered into
the vortex of white civilization on the Yukon. Forty Mile
contained nearly a hundred log buildings, and such are the
most palatial residences in Alaska. Some of them had cost
over ten thousand dollars, for even logs are dear here,
though they are so abundant. The town is situated on the
south side of Forty Mile River at its junction with the
Yukon, and the Alaska Commercial Company has a station
here which was located by McQuestcn shortly after gold
had been found on the creeks above. It is in the British

150 FAMOUS FORTY MILE

Territory, and a few of the mounted police were at hand,
bnt the diggings are mostly located across the border line,
which crosses the stream about twelve miles from its mouth.
The best mines are sixty miles up stream, but Forty ]\Iile is
the headquarters. At this time it was the second place in
size on the river, contained a sawmill, several blacksmith
shops, restaurants, billiard halls, saloons and dance halls, of
course, and a few bakeries. It also contained an opera
house, and here, a little later, we found some of the women
who had come over the pass with us singing the same old
songs we had heard at San Trancisco, and had heard once
in awhile during the journey. They had had a hard time
of it, but they received " big money " for the display of
their talents. It is one of the peculiarities of mining-
regions that much of the gold goes to those who do not
dig it.

At the time we were at Forty Mile, miners' meetings
as a means of settling disputes were being brought into dis-
repute. For a long time they had answered very well, as
the miners in the district were few and acquainted with each
other. But as the influx of all elements began with the re-
ports of discoveries on Forty Mile River, and saloons in-
creased in number, disputes became more frequent, and
miners' meetings became a mere burlesque. We heard of
several cases which had been thus tried. In one instance, a
poor little German was passing quietly along the street one
day, and a big ruffian, who rather prided himself on his
capabilities as a bully, drew out and stnick the little man a
blow that paralyzed him. He was powerless to help him-
self; he could not match his strength against that of his as-
sailant; and so he consulted a German friend of his as to
what he should do in the matter. The friend suggested a

A CURIOUS VERDICT 151

miners' meeting-, wliicli was called at once. Now what do
you think the miners' meeting did. They fined the plaintiff
twenty dollars for calling the meeting, and the fine was ex-
pended for drinks on the spot, the meeting being held in the
saloon, and the chairman being the proprietor of the place.

Another instance reported was that of four miners who
were partners in four claims. These did not return more
than expenses, and they decided to sell. One of the part-
ners was going to Forty Mile for something or other, and the
others instructed him, if he could, to sell out for the whole
lot. He asked them what was the lowest they would be
willing to take for their interests, so that he might have
something to go on. After consultation they decided that
five hundred dollars was the least they would be willing to
take, but at the same time instructed him to get all that he
could. At Forty Mile he sold the four claims for two thou-
sand eight hundred dollars — seven hundred dollars apiece.
He handed the three partners five hundred dollars each, and
put the one thousand three hundred in his own pocket.
Soon after they discovered this fact, and called a miners'
meeting to make him divide even. The meeting by reso-
lutions decided that:

" As long as they got their five hundred dollars apiece,
it was none of their business what he got."

Again, a miner, commonly known as French Joe, a
French Canadian, was going down " the creek," as it is
termed, to Forty Mile. While passing the cabin of a cer-
tain miner he was asked where he was going.

" To Forty Mile," he said.

" Well, you're going by Dick Rol)inson's; will you take
down those two ounces and give it to him? "

" Oui — ccrtainment, M'sr."

152 FRENCH joe's EXPERIENCE

The two ounces were weighed out and handed over to
Joe, who carried them down and faithfully presented them
to Kobinson as directed, w^ith the explanation that they had
been received from the miner.

" But," said Robinson, " he owes me three ounces."

Joe was pained and surprised and a little indignant at
his reception,

" I don't know for dat. He gif me two bounce — der
she was. Dat's all I know for."

" But he owes me three," said the persistent Robinson.

" Yell, dat may be. She maybe he owe you tousan'.
He giv me two bounce — dere she is. You got two
bounce? "

" Yes; there's two ounces here."

" Yell, dat's all he gif me."

" But I want my other ounce."

" Yell, sacr-r-r-e " — the Frenchman was becoming
warm — " perhaps next time you see him you ask him about
her. I give you two bounce — dat's all I got."

Robinson called a miners' meeting to decide whether or
not Joe should pay him the extra ounce. Eighty-two
miners attended, and after much discussion, in which Rob-
inson admitted having received the two ounces from Joe,
six voted that the Frenchman should pay the extra ounce
and five that he should not. The rest, as Joe explained,
" didn't giv dam no how — one vay or de other."

So the Frenchman was compelled to pay the extra ounce,
with the costs of the meeting added, amounting to nearly
one hundred and fifty dollars. Joe remarked afterward, in.
telling the tale of his misfortune :

" By Gar, dat satisfy me with miners' meeting. I
don't vant any more dem things."

DEFYING THE COURT 153

What first brought the miners' meetings into disrepute
was the result of one held at Forty Mile in June, 1896, or
shortly before our arrival. A tailor there had demanded
payment of a bill of four dollars and fifty cents from a bar-
ber. The barber put in a counter bill which fully paid the
tailor's bill. The tailor called a meeting to decide between
them.

The meeting gave the tailor one dollar and fifty cents,
and one of its members then gravely proposed that he be
fined twenty dollars for calling the meeting. This was just
about to pass unanimously, as things sometimes do at miners'
meetings, it being sufficient only to have a mover and a
seconder, when another member stood up and protested
against this action, urging that if they fined a man for call-
ing a meeting the poor man would have no way at all to
get justice. They had awarded the man one dollar and
fifty cents, and the imposition of a fine would be manifestly
unfair. The meeting saw the force of this and let him go.

The barber then rose, and slowly, deliberately, and with
a picturesque profusion of profanity and an eloquence of
metaphor that did credit to his originality, requested all
present to go — not to any more frigid clime. He would
go down the river on the underside of a log, he observed, if
the worst came to the worst — but as for that dollar and a
half, they could — ! !

A committee was forthwith appointed to try and collect
the amount adjudged due. They could, however, find no
one who owed the barber anything, or, if he did, was will-
ing to pay it over to them. It was well known that if they
tried to enforce payment from the barber he would apply to
the mounted police for protection, and of course their action
in so doing would be punishable. The absurdity of the

154 DEFYING THE COURT

sitiuition dawned on the parties to the affair, and miners'
meetings fell below par.

This and similar cases brought the miners' meetings
into sncli contempt that all in the country were quite ready
to join in their obsequies when the Canadian police insti-
tuted a diflferent condition of things. All seem to be
heartily glad that they had been abolished. They
seem to be particularly pleased with the fact that a man's
just rights do not depend upon his personal popularity, that
his title to his claim is not based on the number of times he
treats when near the saloon, nor yet upon the quantity of
whisky he drinks, or any kindred merit, but simply and
purely on his just and legal rights, whether or not all in the
country are his friends or all his enemies. In the first stages
of settlement, however, these miners' meetings and the laws
they made answered the purpose better than anything else
could. There is a sense of justice among the miners which
is not always found in society, and it would not become per-
verted except for the introduction of elements depending
less on their hands and muscles than on their wits.

The general coui-se of Forty Mile Kiver as far as the
boundary line, a distance of twenty-three miles, is south-
west, but after this it runs nearly south. The miners work
their way up in small boats. It is about one hundred and
twenty-five yards wide at its mouth, and all the way the
current is strong with many rapids. Eight miles from its
mouth is a placed called the Caiion, though it is simply a
crooked contraction of the river with high and steep banks
for a distance of about a mile. At the north side there is
plenty of room for a trail along the beach.

The rumors of the rich finds at IMosquito Creek had
been one of the incentives in our coming to Alaska. Joe,

THORNS IN THE FLESH 155

who had followed reports closely, had never ceased to urge
upon me the possibilities of this creek whenever I had shown
an inclination to turn aside and travel into regions un-
known. Here was where he expected to make his fortune,
but Avhen we had worked our way to the object of all our
exertions we found that gold was being washed out plenti-
fully, but the creek was completely occupied, and, of course,
we had no money to go into a speculative business. The
law allows a claim of one thousand three hundred and
twenty feet measured in the general direction of the stream,
and the few avIio had been in the country at the time of the
strike had taken all the claims, although the rule up to that
time had been claims of five hundred feet only. Such was
the condition of things at Mosquito Creek.

But we found mosquitoes. They are no more abundant
there than anywhere else, so far as I have seen in Alaska in
the summer months, but they had a better chance to prey
upon us. We had had our trials with this pest on our voy-
age down ever since the ice had melted, but it was not till
we were camped around the headwaters of Forty Mile River
that we began to realize their capabilities as thorns in the
flesh and destroyers of the soul. For he is a pretty good
missionary in Alaska wdio will not swear once in a while in
the mosquito season.

These insects, which are apparently no larger than the
ordinary mosquito of low^er latitudes, are several times as
venomous. They begin operations about the first of June,
and close them about the first of September, and during that
brief season they make up for any lost time that the latitude
imposes. They seem to tlirive on any ordinary smoke.
They revel in fire unless it consumes a whole forest. One
may hurl a blanket through a cloud of them, but ranks are
10

lo6 THE MADDENING MOSQUITO

closed up and the cloud is again intact before the blanket lias
hit the ground. .Vll day long, and of course in July that
means for about twenty-four hours, they are on the alert,
always after anything that has blood in its veins. Any one
who reads the Bible in this region in the summer must won-
der at the weak nature of Pharaoh. There surely never
could be a plague like this.

They rise in vast clouds from the peculiar moss along
the banks and creeks, and their rapaciousness knows no
limits. They have been known to drive men to suicide,
and the sting of a f ew^ dozen will make a man miserable for
days. I have seen tough miners sit and cry, and it is a com-
mon sight to see them so worn out and nervous that they
can not sleep even after they are protected from them. My
wrists have sometimes been so bitten that for days they were
too lame for me to work to any advantage.

It is absolutely essential to wear cheese cloth or mosquito
netting of some kind for a protection, but in the summer
time, when there is scarcely a breath stiiTing, this of itself
becomes almost unbearable. They pile themselves upon
any netting worn over the face so thickly that it is dif-
ficult to breathe, and they will make so much noise that it is
sometimes difficult to convei*se unless one almost shouts in
his neighbor's ear.

The tent door must be covered with netting, there must
be netting over the bed, netting must be worn while at
work, gloves must be worn on the hands, everything must
be done to prevent these insects from devouring the body
and wearing out the nerves. Like everything else in
Alaska, the mosquitoes are on a large scale. I do not wish
to make it out any worse than it is, for the reality is bad
enough. Any one who goes to Alaska will at times be im-

SUBDUED BY FROST 157

pressed with the paucity- of the English language as a
medium of expression. I wish those scientists who write
so learnedly upon the benefit of the mosquito as an antidote
for malaria would take a trip to the Yukon regions in sum-
mer. They have something to learn.

The Indians say — and it is more readily believed than
most Indian stories — that they have known bears and dogs
to rush madly off cliifs when frenzied with a swarm of
mosquitoes, and that native horses will break harness and
run madly away, and that dead bears have been found in the
woods swollen by the bites of these insects. But one thing
is certain, the miners in their work along the creek suffer
agonies from them, no matter how well protected. A
strong wind is always welcome, and a frost seems like the
soft, comforting touch of Nature, although it may be the
forerunner of a long winter and a season of deprivation.

CHAPTER X

ARRIVAL AT CIRCLE CITY— DANCE HALLS AND OTHER
PLACES OF AMUSEMENT — THE YUKON SLED —
ALASKAN DOGS AND THEIR PECULIARITIES.

Pushing on to Circle City — Some of the Yukon Creeks — Okl Man
Rock and Old Woman Rock — A Flight of Native Fancy — The
Poor Man and His Scolding AVife — His Last Resort and its
Petrifying Results — Prospecting American Creek — Our Lumber
Venture — A Thunder Storm and a Wreck — Escaping on the
Tar Stater — Arriving at Circle City — Our Reception — Some of
the City's Institutions — Convenience of the Saloons — No money
but Gold Dust — How Purchases Are Made — The Dance Halls —
The Relaxation of Faro — Dogs Invade Our Boat — Their Thieving
Propensities — Faithful Workers — Their Enormous and Indiscrim-
inating Appetite — Eating Their Harness — An Arctic Turnout —
The Dog Whip and Its Uses — The Yukon Sled — " Ouk," "Arrah,"
and "Holt."

FINDING no promising opportunity for suddenly be-
coming rich on the creeks of Forty Mile, as all the
best locations appeared to be occupied, we concluded
to return to the town and to push on towards Circle City,
which was reported to be flourishing in the most magical
manner, and where wages were high, whether the mines
proved profitable or not. We each located a claim, how-
ever, on one of the Forty Mile creeks least prospected.
There could be no doubt that there was gold enough in
that section, if the mines could be properly worked. One
man we saw had cleaned up $50,000 as a result of three

(158)

AN ALASKAN LEGEND 159

months' work on his claim, but much dead work was
necessary and heavy expenses were to come out of tliis.

Circle City is about two hundred and twenty miles
further down the Yukon, which continues in its same gen-
eral character much of the way. A large number of
streams flow into it, all called creeks, although they are
of considerable size. Small steamers could make their way
up them but for the bars at points.

Where the river cuts the boundary line it flows between
two large rooks, one called Old Man Rock, on the west side,
and the other. Old Woman Rock, on the east. These
respectful appellations are the translations from Indian
names, which, as we afterwards learned, are derived from
a legend, indicating that even in the dull intellect of the
natives there are occasional flights of the imagination, such
as among other more promising aborigines have been woven
into graceful song and stirring epics. Tliis legend, as it has
been culled from natives by traders who are not experts in
legendary lore, and which therefore may be somewhat
misty in spots, runs something like this :

In remote ages there lived here a powerful tshauman,
which is the equivalent in the speech of these interior In-
dians to the word " shaman," — medicine man — used by
the tribes of the south coast. These medicine men are the
magi, or wise men, of the Alaskans, and by their absurd
mana'uvcrs exercise a wonderful influence over the super-
stitious natives. In this powerful tshauman's locality there
lived a poor man who, like Socrates, had an inveterate scold
for a wife. He bore his troubles for a long time without
murmuring, in the hopes that she would relent, but time
only served to increase the infliction. At length, his pa-
tience weakening under the unceasing torment, he com-

160 A WARNING TO SCOLDS

plained to the tsliauman, who, of course, went through some
of the motions common to all powerful wise men in his
position, and then sent the poor man home, telling him that
in a short time all would be well.

Soon after this the poor man went out to hunt, and
remained away for many days, endeavoring to secure some
provisions for home use, but without avail. He returned,
weary and hungry, only to be met by his wife with a more
than usually violent outburst of scolding. This so pro-
voked him that he gathered all his strength for one grand
effort, and gave her a kick that sent her clear across the
river, which is here about half a mile wide. On landing,
she was converted into a mass of stone, which remains to
this day as a monument to her viciousness, and a warning
to all female scolds. Of course, it was the tshauman who
effected the metamorphosis, and there is some doubt as to
whether it was he or the enraged husband who did the kick-
ing, but it makes little difference, as the husband could
not have done it had not the tshauman rendered some mirac-
ulous assistance.

Like a great many other ancient legends, important
features are left unexplained, as, for instance, how it was
that the husband, after kicking his spouse across the river,
was himself turned into a mass of rock.- The Indian intel-
lect, having gone thus far in its flight of poetic fancy, doubt-
less become quite exhausted, and was unable to proceed.
Perhaps the old man was petrified with astonishment at the
remarkable effect of his kick. From an artistic standpoint,
it will be seen that it lacks some of those rare qualities of
those northern legends which the genius of "Wagner has set
to sonl-stirrina' strains. But it is a remarkably sublime
fancy for a Yukon Indian.

THE WRECK OF THE RAFT 161

Going on a few miles, we came to American Creek, and
Joe's disposition to prospect got the best of him for a while.
It looked promising, so we entered and spent a few days
there. We found gold, but none of our diggings averaged
more than five dollars a day, and it would be better to work
for wages, which were reported to be at least ten dollars a
day at Circle City, than to bother with dirt of that kind.

Having learned that good logs were in great demand
at Circle City for building purposes, we stopped on our way
down the river at a place where the timber was particularly
good_, and constructed a raft of fine spruce timber. But
we had proceeded but a little way with this down the swift
current when we were caught in a thunder storm, which
came up suddenly, and, like everything else in this great
country, operated on a large scale. In these silent solitudes
a clap of thunder caroms through the hills in mighty rever-
berations, and the claps follow on each other's heels so
rapidly, and their reverberations become so confused, that
they seem to be tearing each other and the hills into frag-
ments.

The roar was deafening, the rain was blinding, the wind
was like the blast from a mighty air pump, driving the
murky waters of the river into a frenzy. The Tar Htater,
which was tied by her nose to the raft, danced about, while
the water swept over the raft, nearly taking us from our
feet. Desperately we poled along, trying to keep in the
stream, but, in spite of all efforts, the raft ran with fearful
force on a bar, and instantly began to break to pieces. We
had barely time to jump into the boat and cut the rope be-
fore being thrown into the river. With great difficulty
we worked toward a partly sheltered bank, and there
awaited the passing of the furious storm. That ended our

162 A COSMOPOLITAN CITY

lumber venture, and towards evening we continued our
way down in the boat.

After rowing" about one hundred and sixty miles from
the boundary line, we drifted into the Yukon flats and the
center of a great mining district, that of Birch Creek and
the upper Tanana. Circle City, the metropolis of this great
region, and then claimed to be the largest log city in the
world, makes a brave front on its bluff, overlooking the
river. At the time we reached it it was the booming town
of Alaska, and had nearly a thousand inhabitants. It had
more during the Avinter, but at this season many of the
miners had gone over to the creek, which is reached by a
six-mile portage, to work their claims.

It Avas early in July when we arrived in sight of this
place, and during the twilight hour, that l)rief space of time
during the summer months when the sun dips below the
horizon, spreading the whole sky above with a wondrous
mellow light. We anchored our boat out from the shore
in a sort of slough, and went up to see the city.

The places of business face the river, and Avere going at
full blast. There Avas a theater, four large Avarehouses,
three stores, and three blacksmith shops. AVe counted
tAventy-eight saloons and eight dance halls. Back of these
Avere log houses, interspersed Avith tents, laid out in fair
order, and altogether presenting a A^ery comfortable ap-
pearance for these regions. Our approach had been noted
from the shore, and there was a general gathering to Avel-
come us, for the appearance of a boat on the river, no matter
hoAV small, is an event in this far-away center of civilization.
It Avas a cosmopolitan croAvd of men and Avomen from every-
Avhere in Xorth America, a sprinkling of dirty Indians, and
a croAvd of hoAAding dogs.

THE PRECIOUS DUST 163

The stores and saloons are the only places to go to. If
seeking information, it is found there. If looking for a
friend or acquaintance, the chances are that he will not be
at his cabin, but in the saloons or one of the stores. Nearly
all the men congregate in the saloons, tell yarns, play cards,
and occasionally drink too much, though a man without
gold dust is not in danger of it, for prices are high. The
tenderfoot will doubtless expect to see men going about
with a gun and knives stuck in their belts, but, rough as
humanity is here, it generally has an orderly appearance.

There is no specie except such as newcomers manage
to bring in over the passes or up the river. Everything
is transacted in gold dust. Every man and woman carries
a buckskin sack, and when they enter a store to make pur-
chases they throw out their sack of dust, and the amount
of the purchase is weighed out in front of the purchaser.
The seller never cheats himself, but makes sufficient allow-
ance for poor dust. For instance, a man who puts twenty
dollars' worth of dust in his sack, and goes from place to
place making purchases, wnll find that he gets but about
eighteen dollars' worth of goods for his twenty dollars.
Sometimes in the stores the dust on five hundred dollars'
Avorth of sales will weigh up to five hundred and twenty-five
dollars, but, of course, it works both ways in the long run.
It seems to be more the custom of the place than a trick of
dishonesty. But the dust and the scales are always in evi-
dence, even if it is nothing l)ut a spool of thread that is
desired. (^lo into a saloon and buy a cigar, and fifty cents
worth of your dust is weighed out; if a man drinks, fifty
cents' worth of dust goes out of his sack for one of the worst
mixtures that ever was labeled whisky.

A dance hall at Circle City at this time was not such n

104 THE ENLIVENMENT OF A REEL

den of wickedness as is generally supposed by those who read
newspaper accounts of life in these far-off mining camps. In
18UG the Alaska jjlaces had not become sufficiently attract-
ive to draw thither in large numbers the professional rough
element. It is rather one of the institutions of society as
it must exist here, among hard-working miners, like the
blacksmith shop, or the schoolhouse which sets back among
the cabins. It is a community of men, rough in aspect,
but not wholly vicious. After long seasons of hard work
in the mines up the creek, or after tiresome journeys over
steep and dangerous trails, in the solitudes of the great for-
ests, or among the mountains, even the rasping music of a
dance hall sounds sweet. The rough miner delights in a
bit of a square dance, or the enlivenment of a reel, or, pos-
sibly, if his early education has not been neglected, of a
waltz or polka. He knows that he is in a society which
cares nothing about the cut of his clothes, and is not critical
about the grace of his step. A touch of feminine life, even
if not all that the fastidious or the strictly moral might
desire, comes like a warm breath from the southern lati-
tude over the frozen hills, a reminder of the city life in
the States.

Of course, the miners have to pay well for it, as for
everj^thing else. Before he leads " one of the charming
young ladies " into a set on the floor he must dig a dollar's
worth of dust out of his sack. The young lady gets a quar-
ter of it, and the house, which takes the rest, furnishes the
pair a drink if they call for it. The miner need not pull off
his big boots and put on pumps, or even take his hat off,
and he can swing his partner with all the gusto of which
he is capable. Every set he dances in costs him a dollar,
and a round dance the same. The man who plays the violin

DREAMS OF EQUALITY REALIZED 1G5

on the roiiglily-improvised platform receives anywhere
from twenty-live dollars to forty dollars a night. He does
not need to snffer the hardships of working a claim, but
the chances are that he has one, and that someone is work-
ing it for him.

If the miner does not take to dancing he can seek relax-
ation at the faro table. If he loses, as he probably does,
there is more dust in the hole on his claim up the creek; if
he wins, so much the better. Under such conditions, and
loading a life which for many days in the year is full of
hardships, he seeks amusement when the chance offers, and
is satisfied that he is getting his money's worth, no matter
what it costs. Every one is on a perfect equality. The col-
lege man, if he happens to be here, is no better than anyone
else; a man with thousands of gold dust tied up in his belt
exhibits no haughtiness ; indeed, in the busy season, he may
not be able to buy a lodging, and may pay for the privilege
of sleeping on the dance-house floor " after the ball is over."
Here the socialist might see the realization of some of his
dreams of equality, but there are precious few, I imagine,
who would have the fortitude to brave the dangers of a
miner's life under the midnight sun, to enjoy the realization
of the dream.

After observing something of the town, and making
some arrangements for a temporary abode, Joe and I went
liack to our boat, where we learned other facts concerning
the ways and possibilities of the country. While we were
away the dogs had swam out to our boat, chewed off the
rope by which it was held, and dragged it ashore. There
they tore open every sack of ]>rovisions we had, and. when
we approached, were having a regular feast. Thev had even
chewed up some of the flour sacks and the dishrag, the

IGG DOGS AND THEIR DOINGS

flavor of which was undoubtedly agreeable to them. Every-
thing in the boat was wet, and the damage we figured up to
amount to forty dollars. Everyone who gets along well
in Ahiska must have a proper understanding of dogs, and
a few facts concerning them may be established at this point,
though the pioneer may not acquire a complete knowledge
of them until he has been some time in the country.

Dogs are fed here but once a day, unless they find an
opportunity to feed themselves, and they rarely let an
available opportunity slip, even if they have to bite through
a tin can or climb a pole. They are fed dried fish, whenever
it can be obtained; if unobtainable, bacon and flour. All
provisions must be set up on a cache, and that should be
as high as possible, or they will climb up to it when there
is no one at hand to disturb them. They will lie down in-
nocently enough near a tent, watching and waiting for hours
for the owner to leave and give them a chance to ransack it.
I have known them to come into my tent, go up to a boiling-
pot of beans on the stove, push ofi" the cover, take out the
piece of bacon, and walk ofi^ with their tails curled up over
their backs in the most nonchalant manner.

But they are too precious to shoot. They are a prime
necessity in Alaska, and are sometimes worth almost their
weight in gold. They do nearly all the packing in the
summer, and they will carry from forty to fifty pounds,
keeping up with a man. In the winter they do all the
freighting, haul all the wood, and canw the mails. Har-
nessed tandem to sleds — and I have seen twenty in a single
string — they will go anvwhere, ninety miles from Circle
City to the mines, or a thousand to Juneau, and if a man
wishes to take out for a drive one of the few young ladies
of the city who conforms to his ideas of respectability, and

A YOUNG lady's DIVERSION 167

whose acquaintance is, therefore, of considerable value, he
rigs up a couple of dog teams, for Yukon sleds hold but
one, and off they go. But there is very little driving for
pleasure over the Arctic snows, though the experience is
not without its delights, so unique are all the conditions.

I met one young lady who had become enthusiastic over
dog-sled rides for pleasure. Her father owned a fine
team of native dogs and she had a good Yukon sled. The
winter before, when the weather was clear, and often when
the thermometer was hovering far below zero, she used to
bundle up in her fur parka and moccasins, slip the dogs
into their harness, and streak off across the frozen flats, going-
many miles before she returned. Squeezed down into the
little box of a sled, wrapped in furs so that she could hardly
move, and so that little but her eyes could be seen, she flew
along after the scampering dogs, up and down, over the
deep snow.

" Tip over ? Oh, yes, many times," she said, laugh-
ingly, " but that's a part of the fun. And sometimes I
would have to get out and run along with the dogs. Those
rides did me more good than any sleighride I ever had over
your smooth, monotonous roads after a big horse. These
dog turnouts are positively delightful."

Two good dogs will haul from five to six hundred pounds
on a good trail, and run twenty-five miles in six hours, and
they will haul a man from forty to fifty miles a day and
show little sign of weariness. A native Yukon dog is much
more valuable than any importation because they endure
the climate so much better. The natives are of all colors,
and most of them have very long hair, as fine as wool. They
look like wolves, but they rarely bite or bark at persons.
They simply howl. They are faithful to the last degree

168 AN INSATIATE APPETITE

iu their work, and have that single failing — they are born
thieves.

Buckskin moccasins are provided by many owners to
keep the feet of the faithful little animals from becoming
raw and sore on the ice and snow. They are made like a
child's stocking, about nine inches long. Sometimes pack-
saddles are used, whereby a dog can carry from ten to
twenty pounds, besides drawing a sled. A dog harness
commonly weighs a little over two pounds. The collar,
which is usually made of leather, faced with sheepskin, and
stuffed with deer hair, slips over the dog's head — fumbling
with buckles would be severe on the fingers in Arctic
weather — and on each collar are rings, to which the traces
are attached. These traces are usually made of heavy web
material, otherwise the dogs would eat them up. They
have an insatiable appetite for leather, and will devour their
collars if they are allowed a chance. They have t-o be kept
separate when harnessed, or they will eat each other's col-
lars, and when the web traces become oily they will eat
them. They are so adroit that, sooner or later, even with
the most careful master, they will devour their trappings.
An Arctic appetite is something enormous in a man, but it
is completely distanced by that of a dog.

An old prospector in Alaska told me that once wdien he
w'as driving a pair of native dogs one of them slipped his
collar while he was camping for the night near Fort Yukon,
and ate up a pair of large gauntlet gloves, all the leather off
a snow-shoe, a whip, and a part of the handle, a long leather
strap on a gun case, and the leather binding on the canvas
case, and badly chewed a part of the harness. TVlien the
man got up in the morning the dog was asleep, and never
showed any sijrns of the night's dissipation. But these dogs
will do a good day's work on four pounds of dried fish.

WHIPS THAT MAKE THE FUR FLY 171

They do not drive themselves. A good leader is gen-
erally placed ahead, but dogs \(^ill often lie down in the
trail unless kept going. They are driven with a dogwhip,
a device which is a miracle in the hands of an expert, but
a dangerous thing in the hands of a novice. It has a handle
about nine inches long, and a lash about thirty feet long,
and weighs four pounds. Tlie lash is made of folded and
plaited seal-hide, and for five feet from the handle averages
about one and a half inches in diameter; then, for fourteen
feet, it gradually tapers off, ending in a single thong half
an inch thick and eleven feet long. When traveling tlie
lash drags along at full length behind, and, when the driver
wishes to make use of it, he gives a skillful jerk and twist
of the wrist which cause the lash to fly forward, the thick
part first, the tapering end continuing the motion till it snape
at full length ahead. Sometimes it is merely snapped over
the heads of the dogs as a reminder or warning, but a skill-
ful driver can pick out any dog in a team and touch almost
any spot on a dog's back, and, if hit just right, the fur will
fly. But till the driver is used to the management of this
weapon, he is liable to receive most of the injury himself,
for when awkwardly thrown the lash may wind about him
like a snake and inflict painful injuries on his own face.

The standard sled for an Arctic traveler consists of a
narrow box four feet long, the front half being covered or
boxed in, mounted on a board eight feet long, resting on
runners. In this box the passenger sits, wrapjied in skins
so that he can hardly move, with only his head and shoulders
projecting. In front and behind and on top of the box is
])laced all the luggage, covered wntli canvas, and securely
lashed, to withstand all the jolting and possible upsets, and
the snow-shoes are kept within easy reach.

172 HOW THE DOGS ARE GUIDED

The dogs are harnessed to the front of the sled, some-
times each by a separate trace. The nearest dog is about
fifteen feet from the sled and the leader, with bells on his
neck, as far off as the number of dogs in the team. They
are guided by the voice, using husky Esquimaux words,
" owk " — go to the right; " arrah " — to the left; and
'" holt " — straight on. If the driver nms ahead on snow-
shoes, as is frequently required, the dogs will follow him.

CHAPTER XI

GUARDING AGAINST EVIL-DOERS —LIFE IN A GOLD-SEEK-
ER'S CABIN— HOW IT IS BUILT AND FURNISHED.

Society in Circle City — Cabin Doors Open — Tlie Punishment of Evil-
doers — Miners' Meetings — Methods of Procedure — Judge and
Jury — No Pistols — Our JNloney Runs Low — Joe Hurries to tte
Mines — Great Demand for Log Buildings — High Price of Lots —
Process of Building a Cabin — Two Things to Remember — How
the Moss Comes into Play — Doors and Windows — The Interior
of Cabins — Rude Furniture — Unique Beds — Something More
Substantial — The Yukon Palace — Access to the Second Story —
How Storm Sheds are Made — Tents Good Enough for People
with No Gold Dust — A Man With an Axe a Skilled Workman —
A Bustling Scene — Logs and Chips Everywhere — An Ounce a
Day for Some Workmen — Dreaming of a Coming Metropolis on
the Yukon.

WE found society at Circle City not at all bad for a
mining town. Being on the American side, no
authority existed there except miners' law, but
under that one must walk straight as far as honesty goes.
With all the idleness, drinking, and gambling, there was
less crime there than would be found in most cities of its
size in the United States. Cabin doors were nearly always
left unlocked, and in them bags of gold and other valuables
were left when the owners were away. The Miners' As-
sociation was more feared by evil-doers than any courts or
police would have been. To be sent down the river in a

small boat was to delinquents a worse punishment than im-
11 (1T3)

174 AN EFFICIENT COURT

prisonment, and it might happen that no boats were avail-
able and the evil-doer would depart on a log. Depart he
must.' To be turned out to shift for one's self in Alaska is
no laughing matter.

In minor cases simply involving disputes over money or
claims, the miners' meetings appeared to afford satisfactory
justice, and they had not become liable to some of the
abuses noted elsewhere. When such a meeting is called
all the miners at hand assemble, a chairman and secretary
are appointed, and the plaintiff is called upon to state his
case. Then the defendant is heard, and any other testi-
mony introduced. The assembled miners act as the judge
and jury together, can ask all the questions they desire, and
make any motion they please. Any motion that is carried
for the disposal of the case settles it, and a committee is ap-
pointed to see that the judgment is carried out. So long-
as the majority of the miners are actuated by a sense of see-
ing fair play for every man, no court could be more efficient
or just. The element of danger comes when a little frontier
politics works its way into the system and justice is defeated
by some man of influence, who more than likely may be a
saloon-keeper. But so far as I witnessed the operation of
justice in Circle City at this time, it was adequate and fair.
There being no police force at hand, as over the Canadian
border, and the authority of the United States being too far
off to be effective, the miners fully realized the importance
of not abusing their own authority, and of being fair and
just to all concerned. The judgments rendered would
sometimes appear curious to an outsider, but when all the
conditions of life in these regions were taken into account,
their rationality would become apparent.

It was a miners' law that no pistol should be carried in

A TWO-YEAR OLD TOWN 175

the citj, and it was obeyed. A spirit of good feeling and
good comradeship prevailed. There was a sort of feeling
that the dangers of existence here were too many and too
real to have them aggravated by any unnecessary outbreaks
of the evil side of human nature. Questionable as some of
the characters were in this booming town, there were many
respectable families there, the education of the children
was provided for, a good hospital was among the institutions,
and it was as complete a town as one could expect on the
Yukon, founded as it was but two years before, and rising so
suddenly to importance in 1896.

Joe, w4th the restlessness of an old prospector, was in-
clined to make for the mines at once, but as wages were
averaging about twelve dollars a day in the city, and as our
supply of money had run low because of our misfortunes on
the trip, I was disposed to work awhile in the city, and
acquire some shelter and provisions for the winter. So we
concluded to separate for a time. I Avas handy with car-
penters' tools, and with the axe, and (juickly secured a job
putting up log cabins, for which there was a gTeat demand
at this time. One could fairly see the city spread out and
grow. Lots in good locations were selling for five thousand
dollars and over.

Log houses may be made pretentious or otherwise, de-
pending upon the uses to which they are to be put. An
ordinary dwelling for the accommodation of two or three
people need not be large — fourteen feet l\y sixteen feet in
the clear, that is to say, built of sixteen feet and eighteen
feet logs. To a lumberman or carpenter the building of
such a cabin is an easy matter, and a green hand who is
handy can learn very quickly how to put it up. There are
two things to remember. The cabin must be built. to keep

176 BUILDING A LOG CABIN

the cold out iu the winter, and to keep the mosquitoes out
in the summer. For this the cabin must be equally tight,
for wherever a draft can get in a mosquito mil find its way,
too.

iSTo foundations are needed. The only preparation is
leveling oft" the frozen ice and '" muck," as it is called. The
logs must either be cut and floated down the river, or can be
bought as they lie in the water ready cut in proper lengths.
The average size of these logs is seven inches in diameter,
and the length varies considerably. The cabin should be
seven feet high to the ronf line, and so will require at least
forty-eight log's - — that is twelve a side for the walls.
Smaller logs are used for the gable ends and the roof, and
some pieces of cut lumber will be needed for the tables,
stools, and bunks. It costs not less than five hundred dol-
lars to build a log cabin complete, as prices run on the
Yukon.

The first thing to do is to " spot " the logs. By this a
lumberman means to strip off the unevenness and skin them
on the top and bottom sides about three inches wide, so as to
insure their lying close together when placed one upon the
other. All the logs must then be " notched " at the end,
half-way through, beginning five inches from the end.
Each notch will have to be about seven inches vdde and cut
half-way through the log, so that wlien a similar notch is
cut in another log the two can be fitted together and be level
top and bottom.

Several sacks of moss must be gathered in readiness, and
then the miner is in shape to commence building his home.
The two side beams are laid in place and the two end beams
are put across, the notches of the side beams fitting into
those of the end beams so that a solid rectangular frame is

PACKING WITH MOSQUITO-PROOF MOSS 17?

formed. Moss must now be spread all along the top of this
frame of logs. It should be laid evenly, about three inches
thick, and in such manner that when the next frame of logs
is in place the joints of the notches will be held about half
an inch apart. The reason for this is that, as the log house
is built up higher and higher, the weight of the upi:)er logs
will gradually squeeze down the lower ones until the notches
are a close fit, and in so doing must squeeze the moss between
the logs, making it airtight and mosquito-proof. This looks
like a very trifling matter, but it is one of those little things
upon which the comfort of the whole cabin Avill depend.
There are many little matters like this which are of the
greatest importance to him who winters on the Yukon.

The walls are built up solid like a box to the proper
lieight, and the windows and doors are put in afterwanls.
When the proper height for the window is reached, vertical
saw-cuts should be made in the log the width apart of the
windoAv-pane. These cuts are merely a convenience, so
that when the cabin is finished it will be an easy matter to
insert the saw and cut down through the logs on each side
the square spaces into which the window and door are to fit.
The same saw-cuts must be made at the height of the top
of the door for the same reason.

The logs are laid up by means of skids and block and
tackle. When the walls have been raised to the height of
six feet, the roof logs are laid, those at the ends being
shortened to correspond with the pitch desired to be given
to the gable. This is a part of the work which needs a
fairly good craftsman. To the top of the roof, that is to the
ridge-pole, the cnbin is usually eleven feet high — in other
words, the gal)lo or slant of the roof is four feet higli, meas-
ured perpendicularly. The logs for these gable-ends must

178 A TIGHT ROOF OVERHEAD

be cut in tlie proper lengths. The first one will be about
t\\'eh'e feet and the top only a few inches long; the others
between will be graded in size. In order to hold these logs
in place one over the other, wooden pegs or dowels must be
made and driven in tight. The dowels in each lower log
should fit snugly into the upper ones, and be made long
enough to allow for the moss betw^een the logs, and to let
the upper logs press the lower ones together. When the
logs are all in place for the gable ends, they must be
" sniped " off; that is to say, all the ends of these logs must
be cut off on the proper slant.

When the roof logs have been laid and a ridge pole is in
place, a rough roof of split poles is laid, the poles extending
from the ridge to oiie or two feet over the side walls, form-
ing eaves. The poles are secured in place by logs laid
across them transversely, through which peg-s may be driven
into the poles of the roof and logs of the superstructure.
When this has been done, the poles are covered with earth
and moss to the depth of a foot or more, thus forming a sub-
stantial, tight roof that excludes both wet and cold. In
making the roof care is taken to leave a vent at the top in
addition to the hole for a stove-pipe.

A cabin built in this fashion, whether at the claim in the
mines, or in the city, usually serves only as a temporary
shelter, and when circumstances warrant it a more imposing
and pennanent structure may be built. Should the claim
prove profitable, such a cabin will serve later on as a store-
house, or should a better abiding place be desired in the
town, it may serve as an ell to the larger building.

Rude bunks are made in such a cabin, and a door made of
whip-sawed lumber is fitted to the opening. A fire is built
in the center to warm the interior, smoke making its escape

CABIN FURNITURE 179

tlirough the central vent in the roof. The stove is com-
monly used in camp huts for cooking only, and is not suf-
ficient for warmth in severe winter weather. Such a cabin,
while not inviting, is not an unhealthful shelter. Having
been built of green logs, its walls will be ice-coated through-
out the winter whenever the fire is out, as the moisture is
drawn from them when the fire is burning.

The interior of the cabins is pretty much the same every-
where. The beds or bunks are always opposite the door,
across the far end of the cabin, the table is always under the
window, and the stove on the far side from the window.
Three or four-legged stools and a few boxes complete the
furnishing. All the furniture is to be made by the miner,
and having built his cabin this cabinet work will not be dif-
ficult. For the table, two horizontal props driven into the
side of the cabin and supported by slanting struts are all
that will be necessary. On the horizontal props the table-
top of planks must be nailed. The tables are usually large
enough for four people, one at each end and two at the free
side.

The bed is a shelf across the back end of the cabin. Is
usually divided in the center, and so wide that two men can
sleep on each side of the partition. It is made in the
simplest way by placing a pole horizontally across the end
of the cabin, say four feet from the back wall, and joining
the ends between the chinks of the logs in the side walls.
The partition in the center can be made to afford additional
support. Some people put the slats for the bed across —
that is to say, width-wise — but there is more spring, more
ease and comfort if they are placed lengthwise. The mat-
tress is nothing but moss and straw well bedded down.

In building a new, substantial, and better arranged log

180 A MANSION ON THE YUKON

house, the first business is to carefully select the logs. Drift
logs are preferable, being dried and seasoned. In the ab-
sence of such the bark is peeled from green logs, and they
are cut to the desired length and hewn square with adze and
broad axe. When the foot logs have been laid — prefer-
ably the largest and soundest obtainable — -joists fashioned
from whip-sawed lumber are laid in mortises made in the
foot logs, and secured thereto with wooden pegs driven
through holes which have been bored therein. At the cor-
ners the logs are mortised so that their round or square sides
fit closely upon one another. But when laid up a coating of
moss or mud is used to fill up all the interstices. Openings
are left in the sides and ends for such doors and windows
as may be desired. When the side walls have reached a
height of six or eight feet in the clear above the floor joists,
a second series of joists for a ceiling and the floor of an attic
may be laid if desired.

Having raised the walls to the required height the roof
construction is begun. Two forms are in use in such build-
ings — one of the kind already described in the temporary
cabin, the other built of whip-sawed timbers coA'ered with
split shakes laid like shingles. In this form of construc-
tion the gabled ends of the building are built either of
squared logs laid one upon the other and pegged together,
and with ends sawed at an angle corresponding to the angle
of the roof, or are built of a frame work of whip-sawed lum-
ber, and the space between the joists and siding stuffed with
moss.

When duly enclosed the spaces between the joists are
filled with earth and moss, and the floors laid. The roof
is fitted with a galvanized chimney, and Avhen the ceiling
has been finished the house is read v for habitatii tn. In sucli

THE LUXURY OF A DWELLING 181

a house access to the garret is had either by a Ladder nailed
against the wall, or a narrow stairway, according to the
fancy of the builder. Glazed sashes are fitted to the win-
dows so as to make them donble, and battened doors are
hung with strap hinges. Most of the Ynkon houses are but
one story in height, but some are two. In nearly all the
roof projects from three to five feet over the front entrance,
and a storm shed is erected by standing poles upright from
the ground to the roof as close together as possible. By
having the opening into this storm shed at one side, the en-
trance to the dwelling is protected from the wind and drift-
ing .snow. Such a dwelling as this is a palace on the Yukon.

The poor resident in town or the new pros]3ector at the
mines is fortunate to have a tent over his head. While lum-
ber is plenty, cabins are expensive when labor is twelve dol-
lars a day an-d over, and when logs sometimes have to be
hauled some distance by dogs. One must have begun to
take out gold dust in good paying quantities before afford-
ing the luxury of a good log dwelling.

At the time we reached Circle City the demand for
capable workmen for building purposes was altogether out
of proportion to the supply. The trading companies had
large buildings contemplated, and any one who could swing
an axe handily was a skilled workman and commanded large
pay. The very lowest that was paid was ten dollars a day,
and few could be had to work at that figure. To those who
were skillful in fitting windows, doors, shelves, and the like,
as high as an ounce a day was paid — seventeen dollars
being the recognized value of an ounce of gold on the
Yukon.

Tt was indeed a bustling scene which Circle City pre-
sented in the early summer days of 189G, The banks of the

182 BOOM TIMES AT CIRCLE CITY

river and the streets of the to'mi were covered with logs.
Chips were scattered evervwhere, and the sound of the axe
and the saw mingled with that of the squeak of the violins
in the dance halls and the howl of the dogs. The Birch
CYeek mines were rich and gold dnst was plenty. There
was no such thing as an idle man if he had any disposition
to work. People talked glibly of the coming metropolis of
the Yukon. Xo one conld have imagined a livelier place of
its size. Xeither cotild any one in the busy place anticipate
that within a year it would be as dead as a door post — almost
a silent city.

CHAPTER XII

WORK AND WAGES IN ALASKA — AGRICULTURAL POSSI-
BILITIES IN THE ICY NORTH — COST OF LIVING.

Mkleading Rate of Wages — Cost of Bringing Provisions to the Yukon
Valley — A Sample Price-List at a Circle City Store — Value of Fresh
Meat — A Roast of Beef — A Woman Who Baked Bread at a Dollar
a Loaf — Fourteen Loaves a Day on a Yukon Stove — Monotony of
Diet — Ordinary Laws of Agriculture Upside Down — Diliiculiies
of Raising Garden Stuff — Plenty of Berries in the Summer — A
Dream of Agricultural Possibilities — Deceptive Flatlands — Nig-
gerheads and How They Grow — Grass That Makes Poor Fodder —
A Question of Transportation — Has Not Been Regarded as a Poor
Man's Country — Competition in the Stores — Jack McQuesten —
A Great Night at Circle City — Order of Yukon Pioneers — An
Indication of the Hardships of Alaskan Life.

IT may seem to many hard-worked individuals earning
no more than two dollars a day in the thriving cities of
the United States that the mining centers of Alaska
mnst afford a man a fine opportunity, wdien labor is so scarce
that it commands from ten dollars a day tipwards. But
scarcity does not figure in this amount hardly as much as
the cost of living. Circle City was more or less regularly
reached by the Yukon steamers from St. Michael, and the
trading companies have stores there, and, moreover, in the
summer of 1896 there had been no great rush for the gold
fields and the town was not faced by any prospects of
scarcity of provisions. There was every promise of abun-
dant stores at Circle City then. But to appreciate the high

(183)

]S4

PKEVAILING PRICES

cost of pro^dsions, even when tliey are plenty, it must be
remembered that almost everything, except gold, must come
from the Pacific ports of the United States by the way of
St. Michael or Juneau, and that the freight charge on the
river route is about one hundred and twenty -five dollars per
ton, while no one could bring over the pass more than the
main things he needed, and sometimes, as in our case, failed
to do that.

"While I was at Circle City, in July of 1806, the follow^-
iug prices were prevailing:

Flour, S8 per hundred weight.
Bacon, 40 cents per pound.
Ham, 40 cents per pound.
Beans, 15 cents per pound.
Oatmeal, 15 cents per pound.
Rice, 15 cents per pound
Sugar, 25 cents per pound.
Crackers, 25 cents per pound.
Butter, §1 per pound.
Soda, $1 per pound.
Coffee, $1 per pound.
Tea, $1.50 per pound.
Condensed Milk, 50 cents per can.
Vinegar, $2 per gallon.
Corned beef, 50 cents per can.
Baking powder, §1 per pound.

Dried fruit, 30 to 50 cents per pound.
Potatoes, 25 cents per pound.
Condensed potatoes, 30 cents per

pound.
Eggs, §2.50 per dozen.
Lemons, $3 per dozen.
Sulphur, saltpeter, alum, SI per

ounce.
Cathartic pills, .$2.00 per box.
Overalls, $2.50 per pair.
Hat, $5 and up to $15.
Shoes, $(3 to $10.
Cheese Cloth, 25 cents per yard.
Common white cotton cloth, 25

cents per yard.

Xo cloth could be obtained for less than twenty-five
cents per yard. The price of bettt-r qualities ranged ac-
cordingly. Anything like a comfortable outfit f(^r the
winter cost at least five hundred dollars at these prices, and
it must not be supposed that work was possible every work-
ing day in the year. The expenses of living while working
must, of coui'se, take away much of the extra money earned,
though one confine himself to the simple necessities of life
in such a climate.

A woman's enterprise 185

One must kill or buy of the Indians all the fresh meat
he enjoys. The awakening from a dream of a juicy beef-
steak is very painful. The only fresh beef that I ever heard
of in Circle City was brought over the summit and killed
at Forty Mile, and a piece weighing ten and a half pounds
was brought down and raffled off for the benefit of the Circle
City Hospital. In this way the piece sold at the rate of
nineteen dollars and twenty-seven cents per pound.

Moose, bear, caribou, and mountain sheep furnish the
only fresh meat to be obtained, and as a rule they must be
hunted. Everyone was too busy for sport then, so at
times such meat was very scarce. It readily brought twenty-
five cents per pound by the quarter, and sometimes the price
was much higher. Up near the mines, if one were a good
shot, he could secure a good supply of game and caribou
meat. As I am fond of hunting and claim to be handy
wdtli a rifle, I went in search of game quite often between
working hours when I was at Circle City. It was daylight
all the time. I had very good luck in running on to bears,
but as their hide is of no value except when they first come
out of their holes, and as they are generally pretty lean, and
always tough, they are hardly worth the powder and ball.
One day when I was out hunting for caribou I came across
a black bear and shot him, but he was useless.

As an indication of the cost of living at Circle City, at
this time, I may cite the enterprise of a woman with whom
T became acquainted, and who was one of the pioneer female
gold-hunters in this section. Mrs. Wills had lived in nil
portions of the AVest, from T^ew Mexico to Washington, and
liad followed vnrious occupations. But the collapse of one
of her enterprises in Tacoma had necessitated a new move,
and she fixed her eyes on Alaska.

186 THE CIRCLE CITY BAKERY

She went first to St. Michael, and obtained employment
as a cook. She earned good wages, and, being an excellent
cook, soon became a favorite. Hearing so many stories of
life on the Yukon, she soon concluded that the Simon-
pure pioneer life of Alaska was to be found only ujDon that
river. Much to the regret of the boarders, Mrs. Wills re-
signed her position as head of the culinary department in the
boarding-house at St. Michael, and took passage on the
river boat to Circle City. She took with her the regulation
camp outfit, and soon pitched her tent at Circle City. What
to do was the next question. After a few days of investiga-
tion she concluded that she would set up in business for her-
self. The very next morning the Circle City bakery took
rank among the flourishing institutions of what was then the
chief city of the land of the midnight sun.

In her camp outfit she had a sheet-iron camp stove and
two baking pans. The two pans were all that the oven
would hold, and for that reason her " bakings " were limited
to two loaves at a " batch." But a ready market was found
for her bread at fifty cents a loaf. The miners soon learned
that Mrs. AVills could " double discount " them when it
came to a matter of baking bread, and before the week was
over the demand for Wills's loaves was such that the price
went up to seventy-five cents, and a few days later to one
dollar, and there it remained for the season.

By working fourteen hours a day she could turn out
twenty-four loaves, and in the meantime, while the oven
Avas doing its share of the work, Mrs. "Wills filled in the time
washing, ironing, and mending. Buttons were sewed on at
two bits a button, and double that price was charged for
patches. The day's baking was always sold out a day or two
in advance, and customers had to wait their turn. On more

MONOTONY OP ALASKAN DIET 189

than one occasion men fought for the right to the next loaf,
and, to obviate further dilticulties, Mrs. Wills each after-
noon sold twenty-four slips of paper, numbered from one
to twenty-four. The first slip sold was 'No. 1, and so
on in rotation, until the last fellow had to take No. 24.
Each slip was redeemable next day in bread, and Xo. 1
called for the first loaf out of the oven, and so on down the
line to the end ; and when ISTo. 24 was out the bakery closed
for the night.

When side issues, such as washing and mending, did not
encroach too much on spare time, Mrs. Wills would bake a
pan of biscuits and a batch or two of cake. The biscuits
went lively, and the cake sold at one dollar and fifty cents
a pound. Six mince pies, made of moose meat, sold at
Christmas time for five dollars each. But Mrs. Wills was
too busy with plain baking to give much attention to the
fancy end of the art. Her laundry business was less flour-
ishing, for the requirements of the miners in this direction
are not large. Starched shirts were almost as scarce as palm
trees.

The monotony of the ordinary Alaskan diet is something
which requires a strong stomach and the patience of Job. I
did not appreciate this till afterwards, when mntering in
the Klondike, for a tenderfoot ^vill gaze in wonder at the way
vegetation grows here in summer, and he is a]>t to be de-
ceived by visions of fresh vegetables of mar^^elous size and
delicious flavor. But all the ordinary laws of agriculture
are turned upside down. With the sun shining throughout
the twenty-four hours, the plants, never resting at night,
hurry on with a feverish haste to maturity, but few have
time to ripen. The summer lasts no more than eighty days,
on an average, and though measured in sunlight, it is equal

1!»0 RAPID VEGETABLE GROWTH

to one hundred and twenty days of the growing capabilities
of the Middle States, the rapid growth of plants gives them
such a weak vitality that the lirst breath of frost lays them
low ; and a frost may occur at any time during the summer.
A snow storm in August is not unusual.

I have seen lettuce raised in excellent condition along
the Yukon, but as the seeds will not ripen and few importa-
tions are made, such a luxury is scarce. Cabbages will
thrive mightily, producing enormous leaves, but, alas, they
never form heads. Russian turnips, however, seem to be
just suited to the short and vigorous summer season. They
Avill grow to average five pounds in weight. Radishes will
flourish to a certain degree, but potatoes are about as un-
suited to the soil and climate as Florida oranges are to
the Xorthem States. The tubei*s attain such small size
that it takes many to make a meal, and even then much
work must be expended in protecting the vines from the
early frosts.

Evenings when the sky was clear and frost was threat-
ened, I have seen those who were tiwing to raise a " little
garden stuff " go out and carefully suspend blankets or
heavy ticking over the vines and plants. It would protect
them somewhat, but would never save them entirely. Even
success to this degree is possible only along the river bot-
toms; nothing can be done back in the hills, where the in-
dustrious mind's must spend their time. And when a
woman can get a dollar a loaf for her bread, and a miner
can get ten dollars or more a day in the hills, there will be
little fooling away of the summer season in nursing garden
stuff.

But Alaska has some products of her ow^l which may
vary the epicure's diet in the summer. Every third bush

DELICIOUS BERRIES 191

is a beiTj busli, which produces white and purple flowers,
and then berries, of the richest hues. The berries ripen
in two months after the first leaves appear. Cranberries
from Alaska have been considered desirable delicacies in
the San Fraiicisco markets for many years; they are brought
down by the steamers in crates and boxes at a season of the
year when cranberries are not in market on the Pacific
Coast. They are small, wild berries, not much larger than
peas; but they are deliciously flavored and highly prized in
their native country. The Indians and new settlers eat
them freely in summer, and make jellies and preserves for
winter use. Blackberries and huckleberries are as abun-
dant in a large part of the country as on Long Island or the
mountains of Georgia and Carolina. Nearly all of our
common berries are found in parts of Alaska — red and
black currants, wild strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries,
and dewberries, and many others that are indigenous only
to Alaska, such as the roseberries, mossberries, bearberries,
and salmonberries. All of these are eaten fresh by the na-
tives, and preserved by crushing and dryiug them. On
the coast of the mainland and on the islands the inevitable
oil of Arctic regions is utilized even in preparing the berries
for eating. It is not uncommon to find the natives greedily
eating a dish of crushed strawberries or blueberries, mixed
with sugar and seal-oil — a combination that is sufficient to
nauseflte most Americans.

The agricultural possibilities of this region of long
winters and short summers have recently been painted in
hues which my obsen^ation there inclines me to think are
much too rosy. The Secretary of Agriculture has made
a prediction that before many years Alaska's grain and
food products will more than equal in value all the gold
12

192 AGRICULTURAL POSSIBILITIES

which is now supposed to be hidden beneath the surface.
He says:

" The soil of Southern Alaska, along the coast, is rich
and best suited for barley and oats. Fish will be an im-
portant feature of the Alaskan's diet, and thus the race
will become a seafaring one, well suited for the United
States navy. If we send to the peojile now living there
commissioners who oan teach them in a j^ractical man-
ner how to raise these and other foods profitably, I believe
the country will develop rapidly. Grass is abundant, and
can be easily cultivated further, and by a special process
we can teach the Alaskans how to make hay even in the
worst kind of Alaskan climate, where it rains a little every
day. "We would introduce whatever vegetables could be
successfully cultivated, and make the best of the soil, now
so rich already.

" The winters need not be especially hard, for food will
be abundant in the summer, and can be easily stored away
for winter consumption. In barley alone a tremendous
traffic could be built. More than enough barley to feed a
greater population than is probable in a number of years
to come can be successfully raised, and that is grain for
which there is a constant market. I repeat, Alaska's agri-
cultural possibilities will yield her more money than will
ever be taken out of her gold mines."

The realization of a dream like this would be a great
thing for Alaska, but it is largely a region of icy mountains.
Comparatively speaking, the flats near the rivers are of ex-
ceedingly limited area, and many of these are less attractive
than they look. There are great stretches of tundra cov-
ered with clumps of grass which have sprung up sometimes
on fields of solid ice. White people here call these grassy
inventions of human torture '^ niogerheads," but the tenn

"niggerhead" swamps 193

is weak. It is not half bad enoiigli. Call them the vilest
thing you can think of. Why is it necessary for Madam
xs atiire to utilize every wretched spot of the earth's surface ?
Here, for instance, was once a pond of water, and that be-
came frozen; then a root of some kind crawled from the
margin out on to the ice, and the wind carried dust from
the hills and bits of decaying moss from the trees, and small
leaves to this venturesome root. The little rootlet thrives
under this covering, and soon a little mound is begun, and
some seeds are blown along, and lodge in this little mound,
and they sprout and grow a little the first year; the dead
shoots catch more decayed or decaying stuff, and the mound
grows higher and more seeds are lodged upon it, and more
grass grows, and perhaps a weed, and thus each year adds
to the height of the mound. And it widens only so far.
When it has attained about a foot of breadth the heat of
the sun can no longer penetrate to the center of the mound
and it ceases its lateral growth, but grows higher, and the
grass grows stronger because the sun's heat can warm all
sides of the cylindrical mound.

From all along the margin these mounds have started
and grown, and from these other mounds have started and
grown, but the ice foundation is always there, and in time
the pond is covered with these mounds a foot or less in diam-
eter and usually more than a foot in height, and the long
grass stands up in summer, looking like a meadoAV. It has
a distinctly agricultural look from a distance. One might
think that a thousand cattle could be fattened on this level
meadow in a summer.

In winter this grass falls and tangles one's feet, and
when you want to walk through one of these flats you must
step over these mounds and place your foot between them.

194 SCARCITY OF TIMBER

and you sink in the ooze that has collected there, until your
foot touches the ice, and if you have far to go you become
very tired, and if a foot slips or you stagger from any cause,
down you go. Sometimes you think you can walk on the
tops of these mounds, but you cannot. They sway under
you and down you go on your knees in the mud between
them. In time you quit trying to do so, and stick to the
trail, if there be one, no matter how deep the water and
ooze may be.

The result is that the miners and other residents of that
country keep as far away from a niggerhead swamp as they
conveniently can, avoiding it as they would the plague.

For the rest of the country, the surface is covered by
from one foot to two of moss, and, underneath, the ever-
lasting frost. On this a scrubby growth of trees is found,
extending up the mountain side to an altitude of from one
thousand to one thousand five hundred feet above the river.
It is this which appears to those passing down the river in
boats to be a continuation of the good timber seen along the
banks. Timber that is fit for anything is scarce.

Some of the islands of the Yukon have a very rich soil,
but they are locked in ice usually from October to June, and.
owing to the swiftness of the current, Yukon ice is not apt
to make good skating. T once heard a woman describe it as
an ice house blown up by dynamite. There may be through-
out all Alaska room for a thousand farms, but the Indians
would be altogether too lazy to work them — they would
die first — and a white man who would begin fanning there
when gold could be shaken out of the sand-bars all along the
river would be set down as a man of unsound mind.

The Alaska Commercial Company has had a couple of
acres in a favorable spot near Forty Mile in cultivation for

GRASSES OF THE YUKON VALLEY 195

several years. The have sown oats, but they say they have
never ripened. They made fair fodder. Good fodder for
cattle could be had in this way by importing barley and. oats,
but the seed would have to be brought in every season, as
there is no kernel in the pod or shell. Those contemplating
taking horses or cattle into the country for other purposes
than slaughter should go in a couple of years in advance, get
:i favorable piece of land, clear it, and prepare for the culti-
vation of such fodder as this. Otherwise, they will have
to import all their fodder.

Horses have been in use at Forty Mile for several years,
but the owners depend largely on the trading companies
for the food for their subsistence. Mr. Harper has had
a few horses at Selkirk for several years, the fodder for
which he cuts from ponds in the vicinity. On this they pull
through the winter, but they are not in a condition to do
any work.

Throughout the Yukon valley, wherever the soil is rich
and fertile, a great variety of grasses grow, and cover the
land with heavy mattings of vegetation. They constitute
the coarse varieties, but many of the finest grazing grasses
are seen, such as the blue joint, Avhich reaches a height of
four or five feet, and the blue grasses. One would tliink
that no better forage for cattle could be desired than what
is furnished by these grasses in the Yukon Valley and
along the coast, and that, so far as food is concerned, pigs,
cattle, sheep, and goats could live and grow fat in the
valleys.

But grasses of such rank growth do not seem to afford
the proper nourishment for our domestic animals, even if
secured in good condition, and that is difficult, in view of
the frequent rains. Of course, for the greater part of the

196 MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION NEEDED

year these fields are buried under tons of frozen snow, and
the animals must be housed. To care for them is not easy
or inexpensive in such a climate.

Much more can be done for the opening up of Alaska
by improving the means of transportation so that the regions
of the Yukon may be accessible, instead of inaccessible, for a
greater part of the year. With the Yukon open only long
enough to enable a steamer to make two round trips from
its mouth to the upper trading posts, and with the old Indian
trails, fit only for Indians and dogs, and with a population
which must import the greater part of what it consumes,
the problem resolves itself to the simple proposition of trans-
portation. Alaska cannot be successfully developed so long
as tough moose hams will fetch forty dollars apiece in the
winter.

While, therefore, the high rate of wages prevailing at
Circle City might make Alaska seem to those who have
never been in it like a great country for a poor man, it had
always been a poor country up to the summer of 1896.
There were plenty of old miners about there who had been
on the Yukon for years and had l)arely made more than
their " grub." When one is making money rapidly the
temptation always is to spend it with a lavish hand. But
even if one lives economically, he needs to strike a rich vein
of gold in order to acquire wealth. I could see that if Joe
and I were so fortunate as to get together two thousand
dollars by working at high wages during the short summer,
it would be scarcely enough to pay for taking a winter's
outfit to the mines and putting up a poor shelter there, for
provisions become several times more valuable by the time
they are hauled over the rono-b trails to the mines.

The list of prices already quoted in this chapter were

THE FATHER OF THE COUNTRY 197

reasonable enough for Circle City at that time, and their
apparently high cost was not due to scarcity, but to the value
of articles after they have been carried over four thousand
miles, a third of the way against a swift river current.
There was a fair competition among the stores, and at the
head of one of them was Jack McQuesten, an old pioneer
in the country. He has been in Alaska for over a quarter of
a century, and was really " the father of the country." He
had come in contact with nearly all the men who had risked
their lives in the search for gold in its frozen soil, aiid had
ever been their friend. It has been said that he has out-
fitted, supported, and grub-staked more men, and kept them
through the long winters when they were down on their
luck, than any other person on the Yukon. Hundreds of
men now on the river owe all the success they have to his
help, and they know it and appreciate it.

It was a great night at Circle City when he v/as pre-
sented with a gold watch and chain, bearing the insignia of
the Order of Yukon Pioneers. It was said that the watch
cost five hundred dollars, but McQuesten's bill for enter-
tainment was probably much more than that, for there was
no half-way business about his generosity, and the boys
needed no gold dust when they stepped up to the bar.

The Order of Yukon Pioneers was started in 1890, and
was composed only of the men who had been in the country
since 1887. It had a very limited membership, therefore,
till the rules were changed so as to make men eligible who
had been in the country before 1893. They have a lodge
at Circle City and hold meetings every Tuesday night. It
levies on its members for the care of the sick, for the relief
of widows, and the sendiuc out of the countr\^ of those who
had been broken down by hard work and privations. It is

198 A HELPFUL INFLUENCE

an influence for good, and is also an indication of what sort
of a life these pioneers were compelled to lead in a country
which is supposed to be lined with gold.

CHAPTER XIII

WE REACH THE GOLD DIGGINGS — LOCATING A CLAIM —
HOW GOLD IS MINED — THE MINER'S PAN, ROCKER,
AND SLUICE BOXES.

The Trail up Birch Creek — Some of the Gulches — Great Cost of Wood

— The Process of Placer Mining — How the Prospector Works —
Testing the Dirt — The Miner's Pan — The Trick of Shaking Out
Gold — All the Fascination of Gambling — Nature Holds the Cards

— Placer Mining Conditioned by the Climate — The Old Process of
Sun-Thawing — Soil That Resists Picks, Dynamite, and Hydraulics

— Where Fire Burning is Necessary — Burning at Night — A Long
Process — Sinking through the Muck — Rockers — Sluices and
How They are Constructed — Nature Caught in the Act — Claims
Regulated by the Miners Themselves — The Birch Creek Yield of
Gold.

GOLD-seekers were continually going back and forth
from Circle Cit}^ to the diggings on the npper
waters of Birch (Jreek, and in this way I occasion-
ally heard from my partner, who was working most of the
time on other claims for wages, for the season was not propi-
tious for prospecting. This is easier done after the freezing
weather comes on. As I had managed to locate a very good
cabin in town for onr needs while there, and had earned a
fair snm dnring the early part of the bnilding rush, I de-
termined to carry over a light store of provisions to fFoe, as
he wished to remain on the creek during the winter and
prospect as opportunities offered.

Birch Creek empties into the Yukon more than a Imn-

(199)

::iOO TRIALS OF THE TRAIL

tired miles below Circle City, but in its tortuous course its
upper waters flow but six miles from the town, though the
headwaters are back in the mountains from sixty to one
hundred miles away. The short portage across the neck
of land to the creek is not difficult, though low and wet in
places in the summer, and a hotbed of mosquitoes. The}^
were almost unendurable unless a wind was blowing. I
have seen strong men on the trail through these swamps
driven to the verge of hysterics by the swarming pests.
The trail up the creek leads through a wild country, and
by the time a winter's supplies have been dragged over it
to the camps the_y are worth something. If taken in a boat
they must be pulled against a swift current and sometimes
up rapids. By carrying only a pack I made fair time over
the rough trail.

In an earlier chapter I have alluded to the discovery of
gold in this region, an Episcopal missionary having picked
up a nugget in returning from the Tanana River district.
This was in 1891. By 1894 the district had been pretty
thoroughly explored and bad yielded large results. The
gold consisted of coarse flakes and nuggets; forty dollars a
day was made by some men, and all did well. The drift
is not as deep here as in some other streams, and water can
be applied to greater advantage. I found Joe on one of
the farthest of the most remote creeks, nearly a hun-
dred miles from Circle City. On some of the nearer creeks
I passed they were taking out gold in good quantities, par-
ticularly at Deadwood Gulch, a little stream ten miles long.
Mastodon is a rich tributary, but the very rich claims are
rare. It was asserted on one claim there that they had
taken out gold enough to clear one thousand dollars a day
for seven weeks. ■ On Miller Creek there were claims to be

THE BIRCH CREEK DISTRICT 201

had where a man coukl easily pan ont from six dollars to ten
dollars a day, but they were not worth owning in such a
region, for more can be made in wages on the richer claims.

The district was in its most flourishing condition in the
summer of 1896. ' Most of the gulches were then running,
miners were working on double shifts, night and day, which
at this season in this latitude are very much alike, and large
profits were reported. On Mastodon Creek, which seemed
to be the best producer and Avhich was thoroughly staked,
over three hundred miners were at work. There was every
evidence that the creeks would continue to pay well for five
years^ and after that were the untold possibilities of
hydraulic mining, . which might without difficulty except
that of expense be introduced by tapping some of the creeks
near their head.

If some of these claims which are discarded as prac-
tically worthless could be set down in a place nearer trans-
portation facilities, and in a kinder climate, so that they
could be worked continuously, they would yield fortunes.
Joe had proceeded to a creek where the ground was un-
doubtedly rich, but it was an expensive job to work it. By
the time wood had been cut by men receiving twelve dollars
a day, and hauled a distance of six or seven miles by dogs,
it was worth about sixty-five dollars a cord. It is clear,
therefore, that a claim must be very rich in order to pay the
large expenses of working it. If a miner is paying the ex-
pense of having his provisions brought out from Circle
City, it costs sixty cents a pound in summer and fifteen
cents in winter, the trail being so much easier in the latter
season.

In order to well understand the recent progress of min-
ing in Alaska, a few facts as to placer mining in general.

X*03 ■ TLACER MINING

and as to tlie processes in the frozen north in partii-uhir, is
necessary. The process in Ahaska is peculiar, and the
novice shoukl give it some study before he starts in to make
his fortune. It is the desire of the expert prospector to
locate oxev river gravel, and he has a theory that the short
side of tlie bends in the river will prove the richest. Free
or native gold, such as is found in placer mines, is supposed
to be brought down in the course of ages from a " mother
lode " by the action of running water or glaciers. The
sands and rocks of river beds, dry creeks, and gulches, there-
fore, are the places which secure the attention of the ex-
perienced prospector. He observes the characteristics of
the loose rocks in ravines and gulches, or in any place where
matter is left after freshets have subsided. The natural
presumption is that, if the bed of a river flowing through an
open country yields fine gold dust, larger grains will be
found in the nearby hills and mountains from which it
flowed. The heavier particles are, of course, looked for near
the probable source. Sometimes gold is in dust too fine to be
readily distinguished by the naked eye, or the dirt is so
combined with it as to make it deceptive, and the prospector
must proceed with the greatest care and skill.

Having secured a place which may give the desired
promising indications, because of surface -conditions, which
are apt to be deceptive in Alaska, the next thing is to begin
sinking a shaft to get down to bed-rock •• so that the value of
the diggings may be determined. In a climate where the
temperature runs down to sixty degrees or more below zero
in a winter lasting for nine months of the year, Avater in
large quantities is scarce except in the short summer. Snow

* Bed-rock. Solid rock lying under loose detrital masses, such as sand
and gravel. Detrital matter consists of jiarticles broken or worn away from
the land, and carried along by the streams to be deposited elsewhere.

THE FASCINATION OF PANNING 203

may bo melted for testing, and there liave been instances
in very rich chiims in Alaska mines where a miner conld
wash out in his cabin enough to pay his help for taking out
the frozen dirt.

Both in prospecting and in sinking his shaft the miner
makes frequent use of his pan, which is broad and shallow
and an inseparable companion. After clearing off the
coarse gravel and stone from a patch of ground, he secures
a little of the finer gravel or sand in his pan, fills it with
water and gives it a few rapid whirls and shakes, which
brings the gold to the bottom of the pan on account of its
greater specific gravity. IMany miners prefer to sink the
pan of dirt under water and shake it there, in such a dex-
terous manner as gradually to throw the lighter dirt off into
the stream, but this cannot be practiced to a great extent in
Alaska unless a large tub of water is used in the cabin.
Many old miners believe that under-water jianning is so
much better that they use such tubs in winter. An old and
skilled miner will sometimes shake out more gold in a day
than a beginner can in a week from the same quantity of
dirt. I'liere is a trick about it that comes only by ex-
perience, and out of the same gravel a greenhorn may not
get fifty cents' w^orth of gold where an experienced man
would get a dollar. A good man can pan a ton of gravel
a day, but it is hard, back-breaking work. There is the
fascination, however, of ever watching the yellow color as
the dirt washes away, and it will keep a man at work till ho
finds himself exhausted. It is the same fascination tliat
is felt by the confirmed gambler, for every pan of dirt is a
gamble. Dame Nature is dealing tliff cards. Will the
player make a big stake, or will ho lose ? TTaving won it
from N^ature by hard work, ho will very likely lose some of

a04 ROASTING THE AMALGAM

his winnings in an ordinary gambling game. He lives in
an atmosphere of chance. What comes easy, goes easy.

After the pan is shaken and held in such a way as to
gradually wash out the sand and gravel, care being taken
near the end of the process to avoid letting out the finer and
heavier particles which have settled to the bottom, all that
will be left in the pan is whatever gold there may have been
in the dirt, mixed with black sand, which is nothing but
jndvcrized magnetic iron ore. Should the gold thus found
be fine, the contents may be thrown into a tub of water con-
taining a pound or so of mercury. The gold coming in
contact Avitli this forms an amalgam. When enough of
this has been formed it may be fired or roasted. First it is
squeezed through a buckskin bag to work out all the mer-
cury possible, and what comes out is put back in the tub,
while the contents of the bag is put in a retort, or, what is
more probable in a mining camp, is put on a shovel and
heated till the mercury has evaporated. The gold will re-
main in a lump, though with more or less mercury com-
bined with it. This washing process must be continued
after the layer of best paying dirt is reached, for in no other
way can the pay-streak be followed.

While this is a process characteristic of all placer min-
ing in Alaska, it is conditioned, like everything else, by the
climate and the soil. When gold was first discovered in the
Yukon valley the great drawback in successfully operating
the rich placer mines was found to exist in the auriferous
gravel being frozen into a solid, compact, adamantine mass,
which the rays of the summer's sun could never melt, and
with which the methods usually employed in washing out
gold were totally ineffective. There seemed to be no end
of the depth to which the frost penetrated the earth's sur-

SUN-THAWING 205

face, as the deepest shaft or prospect hole has yet to reach
unfrozen gravel except in certain localities, and in such
places no one has been able to account for the strange
phenomenon. Various ways were tried by the miners of
ten years ago to expedite the slow work of the sun in thaw-
ing out the congealed mass. Picks were found to be of no
avail, as the heaviest blows would produce but little more
impression than it would have done on a solid block of
granite. Dynamite was experimented with, but a heavy
shot resulted in blowing out only a " pot hole," and had no
effect whatever in loosening the surrounding gravel.
Hydraulics were proven equally futile, the stream from the
giants serving only to bore a hole in the bank against which
it was directed. In fact, the only manner by which the
shallow or summer diggings could be worked at all was to
strip or burn off the heavy coating of moss covering the
earth, thus allowing the sun to reach the gravel beneath.
This in a day would thaw to a depth of three or four inches,
and after the frozen muck under the moss had been thawed
out and thrown aside, the sun could then work on the gravel.
As fast as it thawed it could be shoveled into the sluices, and
another like amount would be workable the day following.
But it was an unusual summer season that would permit of
more than ninety days' work at the sluices, and claims that
would not pay an ounce to the shovel were abandoned.

Then came the discovery of the Birch Creek mines, and
the problem of profitably operating the mines in the winter
time solved itself as a simple matter of necessity. With the
pay-streak located from fifteen to twenty-five feet beneath
the surface, it would have been impracticable and almost
impossible to remove the barren eartli lying above it.
Prospecting had to be done by burning holes in the gravel.

200 BURNING DOWN TO THE PAY-STREAK

A Img'e pile of logs would be fired on the spot where it was
proposed to sink and allowed to burn over night. In the
morning a foot in depth, possibly, would be found to have
been thawed out, and this was shoveled aside and a fresh fire
kindled. By continuing this operation a number of days,
the shaft would finally reach the pay-streak, and then it be-
came a comparatively easy matter to ascertain the probable
worth of the claim. If the gravel panned an ounce or two
a day, more fires were built at the bottom of the shaft, and
" drifting " was begun with the pay-streak, the latter being
followed the same as in a quartz lode. The night is the
time employed to " burn/'' the fires being heaped up with
logs just before the day's work is finished. These last all
night, and by morning, if the amount of fuel has been
properly gauged, nothing remains but the dying embers
and hot ashes; the smoke and gases have all escaped, and
the work of shoveling the loosened gravel begins without
delay. As the shaft sinks a windlass is erected over the
opening, and as fast as the bucket is filled the contents are
hauled to the surface and dumped in a convenient place for
washing the following season.

AVhcn the drift has reached a short distance under-
ground the bitterly cold weather of the winter has no terrors
for the placer miner, and he prosecutes his work in com-
parative ease and comfort. As distance from the shaft is
gained, a wooden track is laid on the floor of the tunnel, and
a car pushed by hand is employed to convey the gold-bearing-
gravel from the ever-receding breast of the drift to the
primitive hoisting works.

"Wlio it was who first concei^'ed the idea of drifting
under the muck banks and thawing the frozen gravel by
means of log fires would be difficult to determine, but who-

A FORTUNE IN THE DUMP 209

ever lie may be, lie deserves a monument as a perpetuation of
his memory. The ability to mine in the winter has length-
ened the mining season from three to eight or nine mouths.
As soon in the fall as it becomes cold enough to freeze the
water and prevent the shaft from filling up, tben the winter
miner begins his labors only to cease in the spring when the
water begins running again. During the cold weather he
has hoisted the muck to the surface, and there lies on his
dump many tons of gravel wherein may be a small-sized
fortune as a compensation for his work of the winter. Ex-
posed to the sun, the gravel quickly thaws, for it has frozen
again after being cast upon the dump, and then it is shoveled
into the sluices, and the glittering yellow grains of gold are
caught by the riffles, finally finding a resting-place in the
Inickskin sack of him who has toiled so unremittingly to
wrest them from their gravelly bed. Placer mining in such
a country, therefore, is a long process, involving much hard
work under very uncomfortable conditions, and a great
consumption of fire wood, which in most places is very ex-
pensive. This was particularly the case on Birch Creek.

Six, eight, ten, and twelve feet of the surface is decayed
vegetable matter and alluvial deposit of sand in the clay,
termed by the miners " muck." As soon as gravel is struck,
prospecting is commenced ; that is, a pan or two of the dirt is
washed to determine whether it is worth " keeping " or not,
as the refuse is thrown on one side of the hole and the pay-
dirt on the other. ISTcar to and on bed-rock the " pay " is
found, which is generally not more than two or three feet
thick. *

All the way through the so-called muck which lies on
the surface are found trees lying in every direction, and
they appear to be similar to those growing on the hills to-
13

210 FURTHER DIFFICULTIES

day, but these logs and roots have evidentl}^ been deposited
there a long time. "While bones of animals now common in
Alaska are found in it, there have been found at the same
depth bones of other animals belonging to much lower lati-
tudes to-day. Well preserved horns of buffaloes have been
found. Occasionally, in a part of frozen pay-streak nearly
twenty feet under the surface, bits of bones will be found
with parts of the flesh still clinging, but they quickly
crumble when exposed to the air.

It must not be thought, however, that the difficulties of
the Alaskan gold-seeker are all overcome by simply sinking
a hole through several feet of frozen earth by the process
above indicated. The time it takes to sink a hole is meas-
ured by its depth, as fires tliaw on an average about a foot
a day. But should a hole be sunk in a claim without find-
ing a good pay-streak, the process must be repeated in an-
other locality. One claim-holder may locate at the very
first hole, while another, on perhaps as good a claim, may
have to sink a dozen or more, bearing in mind that his liv-
ing expenses are all this time enormous, and, if he is hiring
men at twelve dollars or more a day, his profits are by no
means measured b}^ the amount of gold he takes out in a
season.

After the pay-streak, which is seldom more than three
feet in thickness, is struck, the fire must be continued on the
side of the shaft showing the best indications. This is also
a slow process, only a few inches being thawed out in a day.
This process is continued in the direction of the best pay, a
distance which is governed by the thickness of the crust on
top. If tins is twenty feet, you may drift thirty feet with
safety, wdien a new hole or shaft has to be sunk and the drift-
ing continued. In this way the pay-streak is taken from
■underneath the surface in the winter until the water begins

THE ROCKER 211

running in the spring, finds its way into tlie shafts, and
hinders operations to snch an extent that they are closed.
Preparations for the erection of dams are then made and
sluice boxes procured.

The washing process was in full operation at the Birch
Creek mines in the early summer of 1896, when I made
my trip through them, and the miners were hoarding their
dust in anticipation of having a good time at Circle City in
the winter. So in the case I have mentioned, where gold
was taken out at the rate of one thousand dollars a day for
seven weeks, it must be remembered that these miners had
done a great deal of hard work before they had taken out
any. They were simply cleaning up the dirt, they had so
laboriously and expensively accumulated. After taking out
their heavy expenses and what they squandered at the sa-
loons and gaming tables of Circle City, it will not appear
strange that many old miners had been operating in this re-
gion for several years, when gold was everywhere, and still
remained comparatively poor men.

In placer diggings where sluicing may not be possible,
what are called " rockers " are used for cleaning up. A
rocker is simply a box about three feet long and two feet
wide, the interior fitted with a sheet-iron division punched
full of quarter-inch holes, so placed as to make the first
division very shallow. The lower part is fitted with an in-
clined shelf about eight inches lower at one end than at
the other. Over this is laid a heavy woolen blanket. The
whole is placed on two rockers much resembling the rockers
on an old-fashioned cradle. This arrangement is set up on
two lengths of wood convenient to the water supply. Hav-
ing put some pay-dirt, in, with one hand the miner rocks the
cradle, and with the other he pours in water. The finer

212 THE SLUICE BOX

matter with gold falls through to the blanket, which holds
the fine particles of gold, while the coarser particles of dirt
are washed on and out of the box, Avhich usually has some
mercury on the thin slats over which the refuse runs to
catch any gold that may have escaped the blanket. Of
course, any large nuggets will be held on the iron division.
At intervals the blanket is taken out and washed in a barrel
of water containing mercury.

Sluicing is always employed wherever possible, as it is
much more rapid, and, when well arranged, more
economical. It requires a good supply of water, which can
usually be obtained on most of the Yukon creeks during
the summer season from the little rivulets running from
the melting snows and ice above. But the construction of
sluices is generally an expensive operation, as if mill-sawed
lumber is used it must be brought from a great distance, and
if whip-sawed lumber, it requires much labor. In either
case the cost is considerable.

A sluice box is about ten inches in width and twelve
feet in length, the boxes so made that they fit into each other
like the joints of a telescope. In these are placed what are
called riffle bars, which are strips of wood about one inch
square and eight or ten feet long, nailed together at their
ends so as to be parallel with each other,, and about one-half
to three-quartos of an inch apart. These are placed longi-
tudinally in the sluice boxes, which are set up so as to have
an incline of two or three inches fall per foot of their length.
A common method of an-angement is to place the slats cross-
wise at suitable intervals, or to bore shallow holes in such
order as to catch heavy particles. Into this system of boxes
a stream of water is directed, which must be of sufficient
volume to carry with it the gravel and dirt that are in the
dump.

GLACIERS STILL AT WORK 213

As soon as the sun lias attained sufficient force to tliaw
out the surface of the dump, it is shoveled into these sluice
boxes. The water carries down with it to the tailings, as it
is termed, the refuse — that is, the gravel, sand, and other
matter which is not wanted. The gold and the black sand,
or pulverized magnetic ore, owing to their much greater
weight, fall between the riffle bars and are held there.

As soon as the riffle bars are filled, so that there is danger
of the gold passing over and downward to the tailings, the
flow of water is stopped, and what is called the clean-up is
made; that is, the riffle bars are lifted out and the contents
of the sluice boxes gathered and the black sand and other
refuse separated.

To one who has made a study of the gold leads of the
mountains of the Pacific coast, the conditions of the placers
of Alaska make an interesting study. Gold leads have been
associated with glacial action, and in Alaska the frozen
placers are in close proximity to the active glaciers grinding
down the quartz-ribbed mountains and depositing the
heavier substances in the furrows carved out at their feet.
jSTo matter how ancient, therefore, the gold deposits in
Alaska, they are recent as compared with those which till
lately attracted the attention of the world. The frost has
not had time to leave the ground yet. The glaciers are still
at work. The Yukon miners have, as it were, caught N^ature
in the act.

Little or no attention had been paid to the rocks about
Birch Creek, all the work being devoted to the gravel
washed down from the sides of the gulches. Miners' laws
governed the district. In each gulch prospectors were at
liberty to stake out claims not already taken, the size of the
claims being decided by a vote of the miners in each gulch

2U BIRCH CREEK MINES

according to the richness of the graveh When a prospector
had staked out his claim, it was recorded by one of the
miners elected by those at that gulch, and that was suf-
ficient to secure him a title. Securing a claim was much
the easiest part of it, for the district is a large one, and
traces of gold could be found almost anywhere, but the dif-
ficulty was to secure one that would pay for working when
owners on the rich claims already worked to some extent
were offering twelve dollars a day for laborers and furnish-
ing the timber.

These Birch Creek mines are on American territory, and
only need economical working to make them as profitable as
any mines in Uncle Sam's domains. Cheaper and better
transportation facilities are required, so that the cost of pro-
visions and of fuel shall be much less, and so that wages may
come down. As it was, in the summer in which I spent a
short time there, the yield was put down as five hundred
thousand dollars, which was large considering the number
of claims that were really worked and the number of men
employed. Most of this sum came from a half dozen mines.
Many, under the existing conditions, could not be thor-
oughly worked, and many more, of course, will not pay
when the cost of everything is so high. But in two years
these mines had built up Circle City into a lively town, the
second place in population in the whole territory of Alaska.

CHAPTER XIV

MY VOYAGE DOWN THE MIGHTY YUKON — INCIDENTS
AND EXPERIENCES DURING THE TRIP — IN THE
SHADOW OF THE ARCTIC CIRCLE.

Dowa the Yukon River — Yukon Steamers — Flat-Bottoms and Stern-
Wheels — Carrying Machine Shops Along — A Perfect Labyrinth of
Water — Going Wherever ItsVarying Moods Take It — Barren Islands

— Fort Yukon — Lazy and Filthy Natives — Trading for Curios with
Yukon Indians — Birch and Beaver Creeks — A Sudden Change —
Out of the Flatlands into the Ramparts — Some Good-Looking
Creeks — The Munook — The Great Tanana River — Wooding Up

— Indian Settlements — The Women and Children — Dogs Galore
— The Inevitable Ca^he — Nowikakat — Short Cut Portages to the
Coast — Thrilling Journey of a Party of Miners — Almost Ex-
hausted and Starved — Perils of Traveling in Alaska.

AS little could be clone to advantage in mining till win-
ter set in, and as, when I had returned to Circle
City, a favorable opportunity was offered me to go
down the river on one of the returning steamers, I rented
my cabin, for which there was demand enough, and set out,
pleased with the chance thus afforded of studying the
mighty stream and the possibilities of its tributaries. Such
steamers as plied on the river previous to the summer of
1897 looked fairly well from a distance; the greater the
distance the better they looked. They were of the stern-
wheel, flat-bottom variety, and but for a soniPwhat pre-
tentious smoke-stack would have looked like small barns
built on scows. The rush of people as a result of the gold

(215)

21G STEAMERS ON THE YUKON

discoveries on Birch Creek had brought two larger and
somewhat improved vessels up the river, but they were still
of the stern-wheel variety, and indeed nothing else seems to
suit the conditions. The old steamers on which the
pioneers had to depend were usually without staterooms,
except for the use of the officers and employes, and tempo-
rary quarters Avere fitted up on accompanying barges when
there was a rush of travel. At such times apartments were
partitioned off with canvas on the barges and fitted up with
rude bunks, supplied with bedding by the passenger himself.
These scows were sometimes harnessed and trussed to the
front of the steamer and pushed ahead in a clumsy fashion.
Two years ago half a dozen dirty little '' wheelbarrows "
plied up and down the murky stream, making semi-oc-
casional trips to Circle City, sometimes apparently at-
tempting to go overland in the effort to shorten the journey.
They were good boats, as boats were known to Yukoners,
and the pioneers of that country were thankful when the
Circle City excitement induced the building of one or two
additional steamers of increased power and capacity.

The machine-shop is a necessity to every Yukon River
steamer, for there are no repair shops along the stream, nor
at either end. If a rudder post is bent or a shaft broken,
the repairs must be made on board the vessel, and such re-
pairs are made in surprisingly short time. The passenger
soon learns that there is no use in being in a hurry.

It was on such craft as these that the Yukon pioneer
was compelled to travel up and down the river, but he was
duly thankful for the opportunity, without reference to the
possibility of going in comfort. Inured to the hardship of
travel on foot over ice and snow, any means of locomotion
other than his own legs was a welcome relief, and he could

AN ERRATIC RIVER 217

wrap his blankets about him and lie down on the floor, on
the table, anywhere, and really enjoy life.

Below Circle City the river spreads out into what are
known as the Yukon flats, and it has the appearance of flow-
ing all over the country. When once well into this maze
of narrow channels and bars, one has little idea of what part
of the river he is in or where the banks are. There is noth-
ing permanent about the banks. A new channel is liable
to eat its way almost anywhere, and the current is quite as
fickle, though it rushes along everywhere between the flat
islands, which stretch as far as the eye can see in any direc-
tion. One has a feeling that he must be nearing the mouth
of the Yukon. It is a perfect labyrinth of water. Some
say the river here is ten miles wide, and others say fifty, and
others guess anyivhere between those figures. No one
seems to know, and it would be difficult to imagine any one
making the effort to find out. There is a suspicion that the
river has no defined main banks, but just goes wherever its
varying moods take it. It has all the appearance of having
given up trying to be a river at all.

Many of these islands are merely wide stretches of sand
and gravel, some of them covered with desolate-looking
ridges of drift-wood. On others tall grass flourishes, but
they are nothing but swampy lands. At high water the
little steamers could pick their way through these channels
with no difficulty with an Indian pilot at the wheel, but in
low water the task is much more difficult, and one of the
amusements of a trip is an occasional struggle of the little
boat to pull her nose out of sand and try again, only to
ground it somewhere else.

But the current nowhere abates its swiftness, and it is
less than a day's ride to Fort Yukon, which lies just above

218 FORLORN FORT YUKON

the Arctic Circle. It is a curious geographical fact that the
river here, after having pursued a steady course towards the
northwest for some seven hundred miles, turns abruptly
to the southwest, just as if it had suddenly changed its mind,
a thing that it seems quite capable of doing at any point
along the flats for three hundred miles. It is here that it is
joined by the Porcupine, which comes in from the north-
east, and the new turn the river takes is evidently a joint ar-
rangement of the two currents, the Porcupine having the
best of it.

There is a class of Indians about Fort Yukon trading in
curios and the like, and its individuals will do almost any-
thing but work. While I stopped there, one of the trading
companies was endeavoring to put up some log warehouses.
It was a convenient place for wintering provisions, for often,
late in the season, as was afterwards more fully developed,
the steamers find it impossible to cross the bars above the
fort, and are compelled to leave their cargo in log caches
here. The overseer of the company which was putting up
these buildings had ordei*s to hire all the Indians needed for
help, but he could not induce them to work, though he
oifered them fi^-e dollars a day. All they had to eat was
fish, but they subsisted on this and took it easy. They take
no thought for the morrow. One wdiite man, his wife, and
two children, were the only white people there at that time.
It is the most forlorn of places, close on to the Arctic Circle,
and on the bank of a river which, spotted with dreary
islands, stretches away as far as the eye can see in nearly
every direction.

For something over a hundred miles after joined by the
Porcupine, the Yukon flows a little south to westward, naain-
taining its character for uncertainty. The boats keep to the

THE SCENE OF A STAMPEDE 219

channel along the sonth bank, but where the north main
bank is keeping itself is purely problematical. Channels
separate and appear to start off like other rivers bound for a
sea in some other parts of the world, while others are com-
ing in at various places. The islands gradually become
larger and make a somewdiat better appearance.

Birch Creek, the upper waters of which flow within a
short distance of Circle City, empties into the Yukon about
forty miles below the fort, and, according to the maps, the
Tadrandike empties on the opposite bank from the flat lands
of the north, but one would have to go out of the river's
course to find the mouth of this stream. About sixty miles
further on Beaver Creek flows in from the south. A little
time before this had been the scene of a great stampede of
miners from the upper Yukon. Gold had been picked up
there and many flocked in, but the excitement had proved
to be without cause, and the disappointed gold-seekers
gradually scattered back to the old diggings.

Soon after Fort Hamlin is passed, the maze of islands is
left behind. The mighty river " gets itself together "
again; the banks become higher and the mountains begin to
appear. It is a great relief after steaming for nearly four
hundred miles through a bewildering maze of water and flat
islands. The change is so great as to almost impress
one with awe. These miles of dreary flat lands are sud-
denly succeeded by what are called the Lower Ramparts,
and the Yukon Rapids sweep between bluffs and hills, which
rise about fifteen hundred feet. The river is not more than
half a mile wide, and seems almost as much underground
as one of the upper canons. The bed is of granite, and the
current has worn it away on both sides so that there are two
good channels.

•i-iO A RIVER OF GREAT POSSIBILITIES

Some promising looking streams enter tlie river along
this stretch of monntainous banks, but they are so common
as to attract little attention from those on the river boats.
One of them, however, was soon to spring into importance,
for at this very time an Indian half breed named Munook
was stmnbling on his way to a rich discovery on one of its
nppcr tributaries, and in another year, on one of the high
and more beautiful spots on the south bank of the river, was
to spring up a lively mining town called Rampart City.

The Tanana River, which flows in from the picturesque
country to the south, is the largest tributary of the Yukon,
and at its mouth seems the larger river. But it is from this
point over one thousand three hundred miles to the head-
waters of the mighty Yukon, and in its course it has flowed
clear around the Tanana, wdiich heads up directly to the
territory of the gold diggings of Forty Mile and of Circle
City. The Tanana l)rings down a vast flood of water from
the mountainous regions of the interior, and yet it is only
recently that a white man dipped his paddles in it. The
late explorations have shown that it is a river of remarkable
power and possibly of unnumbered treasures. It is navi-
gable for steamers for nearly two hundred miles, for which
distance the current is quite slack. Then it becomes swift
— swifter than that of the Yukon, it is said. All the way
on the left hand are rugged mountains and the most siib-
lime scenery, while on the right hand, or to the south, the
mountains stand at a distance. Colors of gold have been
found in all of the many creeks which empty from glacial
sources into the river, but no one has yet sunk a hole tx3 bed-
rock. Nearly all of the prospecting that has been done has
been by those who have crossed over the mountains from
Forty Mile or Circle City.

IMPROVING THE NATIVES 221

In 1896 the junction of tlie Yukon and Xanana showed
signs of becoming the important trading point it now is.
There has long been a trading station there of the Alaska
Commercial C-ompanj, and now the settlement of Weare
holds an important point at the very junction. Geographic-
ally, this is about the center of the great territory, though it
is over eight hundred miles in a straight line from the old
capital of Sitka. A short distance below, St. James Mis-
sion, attached to the Episcopal Church, has for some years
been successfully maintained, and the changes which have
been wrought upon some of the native children are certainly
noticeable. As a general thing the Indians which are en-
countered along the Yukon River are no improvement over
those farther up. Though they are classed under diiferent
tribes they appear quite similar until we reach the point
where the true Eskimo makes his appearance. They have
some good qualities and are exceedingly useful in the trade
of the lower Yukon.

Along the banks of the various places are wooding sta-
tions, where the Indians cut up timber for firewood for the
steamers, which, however, are compelled to stop much more
frequently in facing the swift current up than on the down-
ward passage. The appearance of a Yukon steamer is a
great event at these remote settlements, and the whole
population within reach of the sound of the whistle flock
down to the banks. If wood is needed, a line of Indians,
carrying the sticks in the primitive way, file over the gang-
plank and scamper out again, and for such services they are
paid fair wages, but their disposition is to trade. They take
various articles, and many prefer to take it out iu something
to drink. One thing they never take is soap, and yet that is
what they most appear to need,

222 THE INDISPENSABLE CACHE

Tliese settlements are for the most part all alike. They
are thickest about places where the companies keep their
stores, and these become the trading centers. The natives
live in huts and tents, and there is the inevitable crowd of
dogs, which, upon the advent of a steamer, line the bank
and howl. It is the most dismal din imaginable. Along
the banks also will be seen in season big salmon hanging
from long poles drying in the sun. The children are not
quite as thick as the dogs (nothing is in Alaska, except the
mosquitoes), but they toddle about in their dirty garments
as if life were something of a delight. The women come
dowm the bank canwing queer baskets of trinkets, mostly of
their handiwork, which gives evidence of an enormous
amount of patience and skill in the use of crude materials —
baskets of unique shape woven very fine from some of the
long grass of the valley, and dyed in the most striking colors,
moccasins of rare quality, and so on.

Wherever there are settlements, and where there are
none, for that matter, the cache appears. These curious
log boxes on stilts are sprinkled all over Alaska, for dogs
are everywhere and the cache is an absolute necessity.
They must be made to hold whatever is fit to eat, and a
good deal that is unfit, for the dog will eat both. The cache
is the lock and key of Alaska. And the only thief is this
little animal, which will in harness haul his master for miles
over the Arctic country, and then go to sleep in a snow
bank.

One of the important stations which we come to in pass-
ing down this part of the river is Xowikakat, about seventy
miles below the mouth of the Tanana. It is situated on the
north bank and upon a fine bay, which is connected by a nar-
row entrance with the Yukon. In passing it is easy to

ATTRACTIVE TO PROSPECTORS 223

judge of the nature of the soil from the crumbling banks.
Layers of sand show the deposits of annual inundations. In
many places where the bank has been undermined these
layers may be counted by the hundred, and all the way great
masses of dirt from the banks are hurried off by the swift
current to the sea.

When the river has flowed on in its westward course to
w^ithin about eighty miles of the sea, it takes another sudden
turn and proceeds southward, for two hundred miles,
parallel with the coast. This turn is made where the
Koyukuk enters from the north, and, as above at the junc-
tion of the Porcupine, the river dodges off in another direc-
tion like one billiard ball hit by another. The Koyukuk has
been well explored, but not very thoroughly prospected.
Gold has been found in large quantities on it, and as much
as a hundred dollars a day has been made on some of its bars
by the use of a rocker. But little or nothing has been done
on its important creeks, though the presence of coarse gold
in the bars would imply unusual richness somewhere
further up. The river at its mouth is shallow, and for some
distance up has many of the characteristics of the Yukon
and Tanana. About a hundred miles from the mouth the
mountains begin to hem in the banks, but it can be navi-
gated for nearly five hundred miles. This accessibility
should make it attractive to prospectors, for the headwaters
lie in the same belt of mountains that hold the gold-bearing
creeks of the upper Yukon. The worst thing against it is
that so much of it lies above the Arctic circle.

The Yukon, after its union with the Koyukuk, flows
with a still swifter cui-rent along stretches of uninviting
country, among marshy islands and sloughs, and at one place
is only about fifty miles from the sea. Two trails or port-

224 A HAZARDOUS TRIP

ages from the river to St. Michael or T^nahaklik have been in
use for some time by the Indians and missionaries, but
either is a hard road to travel, especially in the summer,
and dangerous after the winter sets in. Winter, however,
is the time when it becomes useful as a short cut from the in-
terior after the river has frozen at its mouth. A party
of miners once tried to reach St. Michael over this route and
had an exceedingly hazardous trip. It teaches the lesson
that traveling in Alaska is perilous unless amply provided
for. They had only a few blankets and barely enough pro-
visions for the trip. They walked over the frozen sloughs
with the ice cracking under them at e\'ery step. Sometimes
they had to lie flat on their stomachs and creep along, push-
ing their blankets ahead of them, in order to keep the ice
from giving way under their weight. They knew that if
any one went through that would be the end of him. There
would be no possibility of getting him out. One of them
gave out the first day, and they divided his load among the
others and helped him along as best they could.

The first night they slept in an abandoned Eskimo win-
ter house that was full of mice and vermin. That is, they
stayed in it, but slept little, because the moment they
dropped ofF the mice began nibbling at their noses and run-
ning down their necks. The next night they stayed in one
of the inhabited Eskimo houses, and it was a million times
worse than the other. There were seventeen of them
crowded with ten Eskimos into an underground hut, without
a breath of fresh air, and with all the bad smells imaginable
reeking off the filthy Indians. They gagged and stifled and
suffocated all night long, and the next night they took to
the open. It was storming, and bitter, bitter cold. Five
of them had onlv four blankets between them, and thev

PRIVATION AND SUFFERING 225

were so near freezing that they were afraid to sleep. Tliey
stumbled and crept along, uncertain whether or not they
were even going in the right direction. On the second day
after the first night they slept out another man broke
down. He was a man of fine courage, but so utterly spent
and ill that they could scarcely get him along. He would
stumble and fall in his tracks, and before they could reach
him he would be asleep from exhaustion. Much of the
time that day they had to carry him in their arms. Nearly
all day there was an awful storm of howling wind and snow
and rain, and all were wet to the skin. But the^ kept right
on as rapidly as they could make their way across the tundra,
and when night came crawled into the shelter of a lake bank
and made a fire. They had run out of provisions and had
left only a flapjack and a sliver of bacon for each. They
put the sickest man into the middle of the group and all
huddled around him, trying to keep him warm through the
night.

It was a sorry-looking crowd that left that camp the
next morning. They knew not where they were, or if they
were going in the right direction, or how soon they might
have to lie down and die of exhaustion and starvation. But
they drew up their belts, set their teeth, took the sick man
on their shoulders, and started on. The weather was not
quite so cold as it had been. It was warm enough to rain,
and the water was just pouring out of the sky. At last they
reached the top of the first hill and saw St. ]\richael l)clow
them. They were six days traveling that one hundred and
ten miles.

The portage from N"ulato leads to Unalaklik and is the
least difficulty, but neither of these trails offers any advan-
tages except as a short cut to the base of supplies. At this
14

226 A HARD COUNTRY TO LEAVE

point the river flows within about fifty miles from the sea
and not much further than that from St. Michael, but it is
about six hundred miles to that port by way of the river,

Alaska is a difficult country to get into, and equally dif-
ficult to get out of. The erratic Yukon has all the appear-
ances of having met the latter difficulty. During its long
course it runs tow^ards every point in the compass, and in
some places seems to be running in all directions at once.

CHAPTEE XV

STILL JOURNEYING ALONG THE DREARY RIVER — SIGHTS
AND SCENES ON THE WAY — HABITS AND PECULIAR-
ITIES OF THE INDIANS.

Holy Cross Mission — Soap at Last Has Legal-Tender Value — Some
Domestic Scenes — Close Race with the Climate — The Sisters of
St. Anne — Mass in a Log Church — The Untutored Innuits —
Their Unpleasant Environment — Queer Heirlooms — Geese aud
Ducks Find a Favorable Abode — The Trip to the Coast — St.
Michael — Why Ocean Steamers have to Anchor a Mile and a Half
Out — Alaska Commercial Company — Fort Get-There — A Lone
Government Official — The Question of Transferring Cargoes —
Characteristics of the Natives — Watching a Chance to Reach the
Yukon's Mouth — Difficulties of Getting in with a Load — Breast-
ing the Swift Current — A Hard Nut to Crack — Returning up
the River.

AS we proceeded down the river towards Anvik, the
high ground ceased to come down to the water's
edge, and the flat lands began to reappear, though
the horizon is met by low hills some distance away. At
some points rise lofty clay cliffs, made np of various colors.
Spruce and fir trees, poplars and willows, are sprinkled
along, but they do not extend back far into the country,
which rapidly becomes more and more marshy and dreary.
While stopping at Anvik, our attention was divided be-
tween the strange old trading station, with its storehouses
on stilts, and the ancient Russian mission, with its silver

candelabra, luminous wall paintings, and sacred relics.

(327)

228 WOMEN AND FLOWERS

Much more progress seems to have been made mth the
natives at the Holy Cross Mission, a short distance further
down, though I think they must be a better class naturally.
Here a cake of soap seems to have considerable legal-tender
value, and some of the children are attractively clad in the
garments of civilization, and wear clean faces, as well as
the inevitable Jnnuit smile. The buildings of the Holy
Cross Mission are well constructed, and include a church,
two schools — one for boys, another for girls; a convent,
and the necessary outbuildings for a well-ordered farm.
Large cultivated fields adjoin the establishment, and in
them vegetables of prodigious size are grown, as well as
strawberries. But it is a close race with the climate. Upon
the hillsides, in well-kept terraces, the more delicate plants
are grown, and in the dooryard sweet mignonette, phlox,
pansies, violets, nasturtiums, marguerites, dahlias, and other
homelike llowers flourish in the summer months, nurtured
by the slender hands and tender solicitude of the Sisters of
St. Anne. These heroic women have immured themselves
in this inhospital)le region, and have undertaken to subdue
nature and nature's children by gentle persistency, and
their efforts are telling in the manifold results to be ob-
served about them.

But being unfitted for Innuit life by these civilizing in-
fluences, the wonder is what is to become of them and their
acquirements in such a country.

The school has its press, and has issued several volumes
in the native tongue.

There is the great log bani. with its well-filled hay-loft,
and even a cow; the haystack outside, and various other
evidences of rural domesticity and comfort. There are the
wofully homely but peachy-cheeked native girls, neatly

A PLEASANT DIVERSION 229

clad in their uniform ginghams, with a delicious French ac-
cent in their very precise English, the source of which be-
comes apparent in conversation with these sisters of St.
Anne. And all these wonders compensate the traveler for
the delay of several hours usually made there for the pur-
pose of obtaining wood, cleaning boilers, and giving the
passengers a pleasant diversion. It has grown to be the
custom of the mission to hold special services whenever
a vessel is in port, and the chorus of fresh young Indian
voices in the mass rings from the organ loft in the church
of logs with much impressiveness, set in these unique sur-
roundings in a desolate country.

These Innuit people are a queer lot, the untutored
housed in their squatty mounds of earth, the entrances to
which are holes under ground, and subsisting on mixtures
the flavor of which nearly kills a white man. They are,
however, as a whole, niuch superior to the Indians of the
interior, being a trifle less lazy. They are used by the com-
panies to man their steamers, but if one can shirk work he
will. They seem to look on the industry of tlie white man
as a great exhibition of foolishness. They live in a country
which in summer is a great flat swale full of bog holes, slimy
and decaying peat, innumerable sloughs, shallow and stag-
nant, and from which swarms of mosquitoes rise to fairly
destroy any animal life. The insects come out of tlieiv
watery pupse with the earliest growth of spring vegetation,
early in May, and remain in clouds till destroyed by the
frosts of September. The natives seldom go into the woods
at this summer season, and their dogs, though protected by
their long hair, sometimes die from bites about their eyes
and paws. Close-haired beasts, like horses and cattle, could
not live a month, unless protected by man.

^30 A LABYRINTH OF CHANNELS

In the winter and early spring fierce gales of wind at
zero temperature sweep over these fiats of Alaska in constant
succession, and, although it is in this season that land travel
is easiest, it is full of dangers t-o any but the natives, who are
muffled in their skin parkas. Their undergarments con-
sist mostly of a skin shirt, which is handed down from one
generation to another, but it is difiicult for an inexperienced
white man to tell whether the odor of one of these garments
belongs to the present owner or to one of his more or less re-
mote ancestors.

The bluifs which here and there come down to the river
are desolate enough, with their barren slopes, but they give
the only indication that the country is not all under water.
The channel zigzag's from side to side in a way common to
such swift bodies of water, which are constantly washing
out and building up bars and islets, and sweeping down in
its resistless flood an immense aggregate of soil and timber.
The banks, where they rise above this surging current,
which runs at an average of eight miles an hour, are con-
tinuall}' caving down, and so sudden and precipitate are
these landslides sometimes that any craft in their way is
liable to be destroyed.

"When the Yukon has in its tortuous career again turned
towards the coast, it manages somehow in the course of
over one hundred miles to empty itself. It makes a very
bad job of it. It breaks up into a labyrinth of blind, mis-
leading channels, slough and swamps, which extend over
an immense territory with a most mournful and distressing
prospect. The country itself is scarcely above the level
of the tides, and is covered with a monotonous cloak of
scrubby willows and rank sedges. It is in summer water,
water — here, there, and everywhere, — a vast inland sea.

ST. MICHAEL HARBOR 231

filled with thousands and thousands of swale islets scarcely
peeping above the surface.

Myriads of geese, ducks, and wading water fowl resort
to this desolation, where in the countless pools and the thick
covers of tall grass and sedge they are provided mth food
and protection from their enemies. With good luck and a
good pilot, the steamer finally works its way out by the
northern channel, and reaches the sea at Kutlik, which is a
meagre settlement where the steamers take on drift wood.
The rest of the trip is along the coast. A voyage in one of
these small, flat-bottom boats of the Yukon, is a good deal
like knocking about the Atlantic on a plank, unless the
weather is very favorable. In this region it has few such
agreeable moods.

A cursory glance at St. Michael harbor tells why the
question of getting supplies up the Yukon is a serious one
to overcome, even were the other conditions partially favor-
able. The harbor is but little more than a crescent on the
shores of isTorton Sound. It is neither deep nor well-pro-
tected. The port itself is on an island, about five by
eighteen miles, shaped something like an ink spot, and sep-
arated from the mainland by a narrow slough. The hills
of the mainland are some four or five miles back from the
shore to the south. At the other points tundra is broken
only by rolling hills, which are hardly more tlian large
mounds.

Ocean steamers have to make a wide detour away from
the mouth of the Yukon on account of the dirt it has been
pouring into the sea, and St, Michael is the only place where
they can get within a hundred miles of it, but steamers
drawing over twenty feet anchor about a mile and a half,
even, from St. Michael, and none of the vessels lie in nearer

232 FOKT GET-THERE

than lialf a mile from the Alaska Commercial Company's
wharf. The pQit is a clustering village of some thirty or
more small houses, and is nearly wholly given over to the
interests of the Alaska Commercial Company. Scattered
huts and Eskimo dwellings make up the rest of its entirety.
Half a mile further on is now Fort Get-There, headquarters
for the Xorth American Transportation and Trading Com-
pany. The iskmd is undoubtedly of volcanic origin, it be-
ing nothing more than volcanic rock and tundra, entirely
treeless, and, even at this season, dreary-looking. The
tundra is nothing but the moss and peat covering rock.
Soil there is none. The tundra may vary up to two feet
in de]3th, but below this it is frozen solid at all times of the
year. Imagine agiieulture where the plow would turn
up ice and frozen moss at from eight inches down beneath
the surface. In spite of this the grass is almost knee-deep,
and bright-colored wild flowers are luxurious in their gTOwth
and profusion. Innumerable small ponds break the sur-
face, filled with water which seej^s through the moss, and
which is neither palatable nor good. It appears to be im-
pregnated with alkali. All the water used by the Com-
mercial Company's post is brought from the mainland by
boat. That at Fort Get-There is said to be filtered from
the ponds.

The fii'st settlement here was made by the Rusvstans in
1836. At the time of the purchase of Alaska this fort and
post were a part of the transfer, about one hundred thousand
dollars being paid for the buildings and fortifications. The
United States must have let their interest go by default, as
now all that i-s left is a small blockhouse and half a dozen
small cannon, and even these are a part and parcel of the
Commercial Company's post. Our lone government ofli-

A WONDERFUL DELTA 233

cial, deputy collector of customs, has his office in a dwell-
ing rented from the Alaska Commercial Company.

St. Michael is eighty miles, at least, north of the pass
l)y which the steamers enter the river, and the river proper
is over a hundred miles further on, as we have seen, the
extent of its delta being second to none in the world. After
an ocean steamship reaches St. Michael the question of get-
ting its cargo ashore and up the river commences in real
earnest. Everything has to be lightered from the boat to
the warehouses, which, with the present improved facilities,
is tedious and exasperating. A small launch and two scows
have constituted the outfit. Lighterage is also subject to
the conditions of the weather, for the wind frequently blows
here at a terrific rate. When the river steamers are in they
take in cargo alongside the ship, which greatly expedites
matters. Having been loaded, the river steamer must
watch its chance to cross JSTorton Sound to the Aphoon
IMouth, and thence over a hundred miles to the main river.
This must all be done between June 15th and October 1st.
Sometimes the river starts freezing by the middle of Sep-
tember, and St. Michael's Bay has never been opened before
June 18th. The sound freezes over early in winter, and
seldom is opened before June 20th. One of the inhabitants
very tersely puts the situation thus :

" For nine months it means from thirty to sixty degrees
below, and everything frozen over. For two months it's
mosquitoes, and for the other one month, it depends on the
weather whether it is fog or sunshine." In spite of this,
the people here do not seem to be particularly discontented.
For ages the natives have lived in these ice-bound regions
of the north, and have met and overcome the most inhos-
pitable conditions that could confront human beings. Phys-

234 INVENTIVE AND RESOURCEFUL NATIVES

ically tlioy are good specimens of manhood. Mentally
tliey are far superior to most savage tribes. In their do-
mestic pursuits they are skilled to a degTee that challenges
admiration. They are inventive, and out of the slender re-
sources of their native land they have gathered much that
would be accounted wealth if the arts of civilization had
not intruded. They have learned to tan the hides of the
seal and walrus into leather that is waterproof and resists
wear like iron, "With it they construct their kyaks and
canoes and their summer dwellings. Out of the walrus
tusks they fashion implements of the chase, and ornament
them with faithful likenesses of the animals, birds, and fish
with which they are familiar. Ivory-carving is an art with
them. The women sew, and make the fur garments, and
boots and shoes that are worn by all. They are a merry
race, giving themselves up to pleasure completely when the
season for labor has passed. Honest and truthful to a de-
gree, they are trustful of the stranger, and hospitable, too,
though to the newcomer their hospitality is sometimes op-
pressive.

The journey from St. Michael to the mouths of the
Yukon, and thence up its swift current, pushing a barge,
is a much longer and more serious task. AVe were fortunate
in connections, and the little stern-wheeler and barge were
soon loaded, ready to make the spurt across the sound. The
weather was caught in a favorable mood, and we were
quickly in the safer waters, where narrow banks like dikes
rise out of the sea and extend oceanward for miles, inclosing
the channel.

These narrow strips of land resemble great wliarves or
breakwaters when seen from the ocean side. The practical
navigator anchors his craft in the lee of these banks to wait

BREASTING THE CURRENT 237

a favoring tide, and when it rises pushes his vessel forward
with all possible speed to cross the shallows at the entrance,
nor stops until the first station of the journey up the river
is reached at Kutlik.

Only at high tide, or when the river is very high, is it
safe to push loaded boats over these bars, for once caught
on them it may be a matter of weeks before the boat can
be got off and the journey resumed. There is more or less
of this all the way up the river. As one traveler expressed
it, " it is touch and go, or touch and not go," much of the
way. There can be no time-table.

The river proper is not generally entered until the
second day out from St. Michael. During all this time the
steamer has been winding in and out, seeming never to
directly approach the range of distant hills that marks the
beginning of the mainland, yet ever coming nearer through
the sinuous channel. Suddenly the steamer emerges from
the narrow and shallow w^ay into a broad, swift-moving
current confined between something like banks, and point-
ing a long, straight, dreary course toward the mountains.
The pulse of the engines quicken, there is a straining of
timbers, and with quick leaps forward the steamer breasts
the mighty current, and backward from her bow the white
foam curls as she rushes onward.

But it is up-hill work. Occasionally the strong ma-
chinery, which takes up most of the room in the boat, will
break down, and the machine shop, which has to be a fea-
ture of Yukon craft, is kept busy. Or perhaps the wood
gives out before a station is reached, and the crew, and, pos-
sibly, the passengers, are brought into service to cut a fresh
supply from the banks. As the little steamer puffs along
the incidents observed in coming down the river are re-

238 DEVELOPMENT OF THE RIVER ROUTE

pcatcd. Tlie natives tlirong to the landings, and when vil-
lages are passed, the Indians and dogs line the banks, in
picturesque confusion. There is a sort of delight in riding
swiftly down the current while these scenes are j^assing in
panorama, but in struggling ui>, day after day, the monot-
ony is tedious, though everyone tries to make the best of it.

There can be no question that the river route to the gold
regions of the upper Yukon, with all its drawbacks, and the
length of time it consumes, is the least dangerous, the easiest
and the most agreeable. It must in the future be made to
play a great part in the development of Alaska, and yet,
for commercial purposes, it is a hard nut to crack. It is a
strange river in a strange country.

If Alaska still belonged to Russia, and development had
to come from Kamschatka and Siberia, its position would
be right enough, but it is wrong end to for the United States.
Access to it involves the crossing of two turbulent seas, the
ISTorth Pacific and Bering Sea, three thousand miles to a far
northern point, then in a horseshoe route up and south
again, over a rapid current and shallow and shifting bed
that at the best has but little more than four months per
year of ticklish navigation.

Even with improved facilities it must always be expen-
sive business to carry freight so long a distance. All efforts
to improve the channel must be wasted, because of the swift
nature of the river, which is continually pouring down silt
and constructing its own shallow channels. In some places
the na^ngable way is here to-day and gone somewhere else
to-morrow. It is almost impossible to mark a channel at the
mouth, for the movement of the ice in Bering Sea is con-
tinually changing the depths at this point, so that what
mis'lit be the channel one season would not be the next.

PLANS FOR THE WINTER 239

From this cause, and hioli winds making it too rough for
river steamers to cross the intervening eighty miles from St.
Michael to the mouth, there is much delay here, and it would
be impossible to fix regular dates of sailing. To deepen
one of the channels sufficiently to allow ocean vessels to
enter the mouth of the river would be very expensive, and
even when done could hardly be expected, under the con-
ditions, to be permanent.

In spite of all the difficulties, the transportation com-
panies have struggled nobly to provide for the necessities
of the increasing population at the mines, and it remains
the only way by which provisions can be carried in in large
quantities. To the people there these little river steamers
mean life, if winter is to be spent in the interior, and unless
winters are spent in the interior there can be no develop-
ment of the mines. It is then that the digging must be
done.

Meeting with generally favorable conditions on our
way up the river, we arrived at Circle City in good time.
Joe was down from the mines for another load of supplies,
and he informed me that so far as he had worked the ground
where our claims were the prospects were good, and he pro-
posed to stock up with provisions and continue the work
through the winter. It seemed best for me to continue on
the steamer up to Forty ]\Iile and seek to make some arrange-
ments, if possible, for the working of our claims there be-
fore returning to Circle City for the winter. So up the
river I went, little dreaming of the events which had thrown
the miners of the upper Yukon into a fever of excitement.

CHAPTER XYI

ARRIVAL AT FORTY MILE — WONDERFUL STORIES OF
NEW DIGGINGS — 110 ! FOR THE KLONDIKE ! — MAD
RUSH OF EXCITED GOLD-SEEKERS.

Something Has Happened — Forty Mile Almost Deserted — A Genuine
Stampede — The Discovery on the Thron-diuck or Klondike —
Henderson's Find on Gold Bottom — He Returns for Provisions —
Meeting Cormack's Fishing Party — He Tells of His Discovery —
Cormack Concludes to Find Gold Bottom — Over the Trail — Re~
turns to His Fishing Camp — Prospects a Little on His Way— -
Stumbles on a Good Pan on Bonanza Creek — Claims for Himself,
Tagish Charlie, and Tagish Jim — Siwash George's Reputation for
Truth and Veracity — Where Did He Get the Gold ? — Tremendous
Excitement — Forty Mile Deserted — Old Miners Lack Faith —
Skim Diggings — Highly-Colored Tales — I Conclude to Go and
See for Myself — Poling Up Stream — Returning Prospectors Shoot
By Us — "It's a Big Thing, Boys" — Never Mind the Blisters —
Tired and Footsore — A Lively Camp — Trying to Sleep — Ten
Dollars to the Pan.

WHEN we readied Eorty Mile it was at once appa-
rent that sometliing had happened to that lively
little settlement with which \^e had become ac-
quainted a few weeks before on onr swift trip down the
river. A great change had come over it, and Ave were not
long in discovering the reason. The greater part of the
place had vanished, moved bag and baggage to the " Thron-
diuck," the moose valley forty miles above. It was here
that we heard the story of the " Klondike " discovery.

There is some dissimilarity in the accounts of how the

(240)

THE DAUNTLESS THREE 241

discovery was made, but tlie most reliable seems to show
that the credit for it in the first instance should be given to
three men, Kobert Henderson, a Canadian, a native of
Prince Edward Island, Frank Swanson, a Norwegian, and
another man named Munson, who, in July, 1896, were pros-
pecting on Indian Creek, which, as will be observed by the
map, empties into the Yukon some twenty-five miles above
the Klondike.

They proceeded up the creek without finding sufficient
to satisfy them until they reached Dominion Creek, and
after prospecting there they crossed over the divide and
found Gold Bottom, where they got good prospects and
went to work. Gold Bottom is a little creek whose head-
waters are very close to Dominion Creek. It flows north-
ward, emptying into another creek, which, in turn, empties
into the Klondike about twelve miles from its mouth. It is
said that the attention of these prospectors was fii-st directed
to Gold Bottom by the stories told by Indian fishermen.
But these stories had often been told, and little confidence
was placed in the acuteness of the Indians of this region in
noticing traces of the yellow metal.

The prospectors kept at work for some days with results
that seemed promising, but, provisions running short, Hen-
derson retraced his steps to the mouth of Indian Creek,
leaving the other two at work. From the mouth of Indian
Creek he went up to Sixty Mile, but failing to obtain a sup-
ply there he had to make for Forty Mile. On ihe way down
he passed an old mining comrade named George W. Cor-
rnack, a native of California, wdio had associated witli him
two Indians, Tagish Jim and Tagish Charlie, natives of the
upper waters of the Yukon. Cormack was what is known
as a " squaw man," having, like many other pioneers in the

2-i2 THE CAMP OF " SIWASH GEORC^E "

country, married an Indian woman, and thus liaving be-
come more closely associated witli the "Stick" Indian ways.
He was commonly called " Siwasli George." AYitb liis In-
dian associates lie had been fishing near the mouth of the
Klondike for some days, but without much success, as the
salmon did not run up well in the simimer of 1896. He
had heard stories of the Indians as to traces of gold on the
creeks emptying into the Klondike, but like most of the old-
timers had paid little attention to them, and in his Indian
life had looked upon the salmon season as a time when the
energies must be expended in laying up a store of fish for the
winter.

The scene as Henderson came drifting down the rapid-
flowing Yukon towards the little camp near the mouth of
the Klondike, where Cormack and his associates were con-
ducting their unsuccessful fishing operations, may be easily
imagined. Here M'ith majestic swiftness the great river rolls
between its steep banks, on which plants and flowers flourish
in the colors and exuberance characteristic of a Yukon
summer. To the voyager it was a weird, picturesque scene,
as the sun cast a flood of light on the sweeping river and the
steep mountains, fringed with green and tipped with streaks
of white, and fell brightly on the camp of Cormack, his In-
dians, and his dogs. An opportunity for a brief companion-
ship in these solitudes is seldom missed, and Henderson
steered to the camp, where items of news were exchanged.

It is one of the articles of the miner's code that he shall
proclaim all discoveries made by him as soon as possible,
and Henderson, who had already dropped the word to a few
at Sixty Mile, to which place he had first gone for pro-
visions, but without success, at once advised Cormack of the
discovery on .Gold Bottom, and advised him to try there.

FINDING A BONANZA 243

Making inquiries of the local Indians as to the situation of
Gold Bottom, Cormack learned the route to it, and, along
with the two Indians mentioned, started, climbing over the
ridge which divides the valley of the Yukon from the valley
of the creek now called Bonanza, down into that creek and
up it to the rich stream now known as Eldorado. It was a
rough, agonizing journey, but Cormack and his Indians
were hardened to such conditions. They went up it about
three miles and then followed the ridge dividing its waters
from those of Bonanza until they struck the watershed
between Indian Creek and Klondike, along which they trav-
eled until they reached the head of the creek that they as-
sumed to be the Gold Bottom. They went down, found
Swanson and Munson at work, but Cormack was not sat-
isfied with the prospects there. They Avere fair, but not
sufficient to justify the conclusion that placers of exceeding
richness lay in streaks under the frozen soil. Often had
prospectors been tempted into these hills only to work their
way out in disgust to seek provisions. Cormack determined
to return to his fishing, prospecting the creek from its head
downwards, as it lay in the direction of his camp.

He found nothing of note until he came down about
midway, where from a little nook in a bend of the creek he
panned out a good prospect. This encouraged him to try
again. He did so, and in a few moments panned out twelve
dollars and seventy-five cents, which he put in an old cart-
ridge shell and corked with a piece of stick. This was on
August 10, 189G. The next day he staked discovery claim
and l!^o. 1 below for himself, ISTo. 2 for Tagish Charlie, and
No. 1 above for Tagish Jim. He then made his way down
the creek as fast as possible and went down the river for a

supply of provisions.
15

244 THE STAMPEDE FROM FORTY MILE

On the way he met several miners and informed them of
his discovery. At first they would not believe him, as his
reputation for truth was not above par. These miners said
they could not tell when he was telling the truth, if he ever
was. Yet there was no question about the man having
the twelve dollars and seventy-five cents in gold. The only
question, then, was, Where did he get it? He had not been
up the Sixty Mile, nor yet the Forty Mile, and he must have
got it somewhere near where he was engaged in fishing, and
that was right at the mouth of the Klondike. There must
be gold there somewhere.

Then followed the excitement. It takes very little to
start a stampede of miners. Boatload after boatload of men
went up from Forty Mile. They went up any how and
any way, starting at all times of the day and night. Men
who had been drunk for weeks and weeks, in fact, were
tumbled into the boats and taken up Avithout any knowledge
that they were travelers. One man, it was related, was so
drunk that he did not realize that he had left Forty Mile
until he was more than two-thirds of the way to the Klon-
dike. Yet this same man is settled on one of the best of
claims.

In less than three days every boat had gone from Fort
Cudahy and the town of Forty Mile, and only enough
people were left to watch the business houses and the police
barracks, w^hile a few who could not obtain boats were act-
ing in the most distracted manner. ISTo one knew anything
about the richness of the ncAV discoveries; they only knew
that a man had been there and had come away with a few
gold nuggets.

I knew enoTigh of miners' stampedes not to be greatly
interested in the new development at Forty Mile. I was

"big pans" 245

aware that there had been at that place a lot of miners who
had been having poor luck, and leading a very unsatisfac-
tory existence. They were the bluest of the blue, for they
had been tramping over the rough trails in the country
back from the Yukon in the hopes of making a strike, had
failed, and were, as the winter season approached, com-
pletely disgusted with the country. Those who had been
working for wages in some of the paying mines were better
off, but the moment the Klondike news came they threw up
their jobs, and some owners of the mines on Forty Mile
either stopped work or sold out their claims, and departed
with the rest. A large number of them rushed off mthout
provisions or the means to obtain them.

Very soon some of these came down the river, having
located claims, and then it was learned that there was really
something on the Klondike w^orth traveling after. " It's a
big thing," they said. " Everybody is finding big pans."
They were speaking comparatively, for none of the really
big finds had been made as yet. The surface pans were
large as compared wdtli those that the miners had been ac-
customed to in the region. It was easy enough to find gold,
but the thing was to find it fast enough to pay. A " grub-
stake " strike, by which one might succeed in obtaining a
winter's outfit, Avas something. All the returned miners
could say was that the surface was good, and '' if it went
down it would be the biggest thing on earth." There was
a belief among those remaining at Forty j\Iile that they were
only what are called " skim diggings." This impression
was intensified by a few old miners who had come back
either in disgust or highly skeptical. They said the
valley was too wide, that the -willow^s did not lean the right
way, and that the waters did not taste right. It was simply

V

246 STARTING FOR THE KLONDIKE

another crazy staiii])C'de. Sonic of tlieni did not even wait
to stake out a claim, while others staked them and sold them
for what they could get, thinking themselves in luck to do
that. The creek had been staked principally by " chee-
chacoes," as the Indians call them, or tenderfeet. So little
faith was shown at Forty Mile that some of the claim-
holders could not obtain " gTub " at the stores in exchange
for their prospects.

But more and more highly colored tales began to come
down, though no one, so far as we could hear, had reached
bed-rock as yet, and I determined that I would put out and
see for myself. I knew it would be an impossibility for one
man to Avork a boat up the rapid Yukon, so I picked out a
helper, with w^hom I was well acquainted, from among the
feverish throng that were waiting for a chance to go up.
AVe threw a tent, a stove, and a month's provisions into a
boat, and started off, but before we had got far we overtook
two men who insisted that their happiness in this world,
and, perhaps, in the next, depended upon our taking them
along with us. They would pull the boat, do anything, if
we w^ould only let them come in. So we did.

AVorking up stream with a loaded boat is a laborious
undertaking. The current is too swift to pennit of rowing
or paddling except for occasional short stretches, and so we
had to pole most of the way, and when that failed we had
to tow or " trick " the boat along. These two men would
grasp the tow line and pull with all their strength, for they
were anxious to make the best time possible, but neither of
them were experts in handling a boat in the peculiar
methods required on the Yukon. ]\Iy brief summer's ex-
perience, however, had been of value to me, and we worked
along in fair order, but most of the time in a drizzling rain.

NO WILD GOOSE CHASE 247

It was very dismal. We camped wherever the lengthening
nights overtook us, and generally on a gravelly bank, for
the heavy moss on the top of the banks overlooking the river
is full of water. We ate hurriedly, slept little, and hour
after hour dragged the tow line over rough places on the
shore, the boat all the time pulling a dead weight against us.

Long before we reached the Klondike many boats passed
us loaded with men who had been to the new diggings and
were returning for provisions. They shot by us gaily in a
five-mile current in strange contrast to the men on the tow
line, who, with blistered feet, were slipping and sprawling
along the rocks on the bank.

" Hurry up, boys. It's a great thing! " they shouted
as they shot past, as if we could hurry any faster against that
current.

" Five dollars to the pan, boys," shouted another, " but
take it easy, for there's lots of good claims there," and we
pulled away on the tow line harder than ever.

" Hello, Bill, is that you? " came a voice from another
boat later on, and I recognized a man with whom I had be-
come acquainted on the trip in, and who had stopped at
Forty Mile. " It looks good," he shouted. " Yes, I've
staked. Will sell for one hundred dollars, for there are
more claims there. Take some grub over the mountains
and look around a little. I'll be back shortly."

I made up my mind that it was no wild goose chase. I
could take that man's word, for he was an old miner, and
not easily deceived. " It must be a big thing." I said to
my companions, and they pulled and poled with renewed
energy. How exasperating a five-mile current can be
when it is against one, and there is gold at the other end!
Never mind the blisters on the feet and the sore hands!

248 GOLD SEEKERS ON THE BEACH

Never 111 hid stopping to cat! AVe immcbed crackers and
kept on pulling and poling.

On the third evening we reached the little native village
at the month of the Klondike. When Joe and I had gone
past there in the early snmmer there had been but two white
men in the village. Now they were camped all about the
banks. We were too tired and footsore to attempt to go
over the mountains that night, so we put up the tent and
dragged our boat up on the beach. Some of the men who
were camped there had been over the trail, and had come
down for more provisions which they had left in caches, or
in the native huts, while some were bound down the river to
Forty Mile, like those we had passed on the way. Others
had just arrived and, like ourselves, were waiting to go
over the trail. We had a bite, a little hot coffee, and then
a pipe, then sat and listened to the stories of those who had
been in. These stories, however, did not agree. Some said
they were not coming back, that the Klondike couldn't
" hold a candle " to Forty Mile Creek, others spoke of big
strikes, but we were shown little gold. They had just
staked out their claims and were going back for supplies.

All night the boats kept arriving and pulling up on the
gravelly beach. They came from Sixty Mile, Stewart
River — from everywhere in this part of the Yukon valley,
and when we wondered how they came to hear of it we
found that they had been sent for by their friends on the
stream. The natives had been used as messengers.

Then we were startled by a wild whoop like a Comanche
yell from the brow of the first rise of the mountain over
which the trail comes from Bonanza. Then came a volley of
yells, and a stranger would have thought that a whole band
of savages were pouring down the hill after us. We looked

EXCITING NEWS 249

lip through the bushes to see tlie rocks tumbling and rolling
down with them. The yells increased; and rocks and men
came down faster and faster till they reached the bottom a
few yards away. Of course we knew what was up. They
had just come in from the creek. We were up and shout-
ing, too.

" How is it? "' everybody asked as the men came nearer.

" Ten dollars to the pan, right in the bank of the creek
on No. 11."

" Above or below? "

" Oh, below, of course. Nobody has done any panning
above."

It is, of course, understood that when a discovery is made
on a creek that claim is called " Discovery Claim," the next
above is called '•' ISTo. 1, above," the next one down stream
" No. 1, below," and so on as far as claims are made either
up or down.

The little camp of scattered tents was at once alive with
eager men. The returning miners were seized and button-
holed, to use a polite expression which is sometimes out of
place in Alaska for want of buttons. More wood was
thrown on the fire, the coffee-pot was put where it would boil
quickly, and the frying pan was soon doing its duty, while
the visitors squatted around and were pumped for informa-
tion.

We were told that three men on Bonanza Creek worked
out seventy-five dollars in four hours, and that a twelve-
dollar nugget had been found. Nothing had yet been done
except to pan, though two men with two lengths of sluice
boxes had taken out four thousand dollars. The gold is
coarse. That was enough to set the miners wild.

It was evident, from the ferocity witli which the men

"ioO PILGRIMS OF THE NIGHT

attacked the solid food, and poured down tlic Loiling-liot
black coffee, that the trip to the creek was not exactly a
picnic, thongh they say it is " fair." We knew enough to
know that in Alaska that word applies to any place where a
man can go without breaking his neck.

In a little while I saw a few men slipping away from the
small crowd clustered about the fire, and in a few minutes
the sound of stones and rocks rolling down the mountain
side was heard again. But there were no yells. iSTo one
was returning. Here and there a man had slipped away
and strapped on his pack, and was climbing upward, cling-
ing to the small bushes, working slowly, but going on per-
sistently. They could not wait a moment after hearing the
stories of those wonderful pans.

I kneW' we were too tired and footsore to attempt to
make the climb till morning. If we had attempted it we
should probably have had to stop somewhere on the moun-
tains without water. Still, we regretted that we could not
push on. My companions showed no signs of being sleepy,
although I knew they needed rest like myself. Finally w^e
got into the tent, rolled ourselves in our blankets, and tried
to sleep, but every once in a wdiile another boat would scrape
on the gravelly beach, and more men would come up and
cook a meal, or hurriedly shoulder their packs and scramble
on up the steep trail.

"While I lay there, almost ready to drop off and forget
about the wonderful pans, I heard a noise in the tent. Some
one was moving about. But I recognized the sound. I
have already related a few facts concerning the Alaskan
dog, and there is no mistaking that peculiar, gentle sound of
a pan being licked by a " huskie." I picked up a hatchet
and threw it at the dark object, but it did not hit him.

MISSING THE MARK 251

Nothing' but a rifle ball would liit one of these dogs. The
hatchet made a big hole in the tent, but time was too
precious to waste in sewing it up.

Finally, I fell asleep, only to be awakened by more boats
grinding on the gravel, more Comanche yells, more men
clambering up the mountain, more stones rolling down to
the beach.

CHAPTER XYII

MY FIRST TRAMP IN THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS —
WHAT A PLACE FOR GOLD! — A PEEP INTO THE
SLUICE BOXES — I STAKE A CLAIM.

Preparations for a Start — Over the Mountain into the Swamps — A
Hard Tramp — Cranberries to Quench Thirst — A Mysterious Pup
— The Klondike Valley from the Summit — Glimpse of the Arctic
Rockies— "All the Goold in the Worruld"— An Old Story —
Hurrying On — On Bonanza Creek at Last — Calculating the Dis-
tance— Blowing a Little — Looking for Henry Ward Beecher — A
Disgusted Irishman — Too Tired to Keep On — A Look at the
Gravelly' Bar — I form a Poor Opinion — Ready to Change My
Mind — Too Tired to Care — Forgetting One's Name — Chilled
Through — Nuggets Fished Out vrith a Shovel — Washing Out
the Gold — Objects of Suspicion — Pushing on for a Claim — Indi-
cations Do Not Count — I Stake My Claim — Starting Back in the
Rain — Over the Trail Again — Our Turn to Yell.

BY the time daylight had found its way into the valley
our breakfast was disposed of, and the dishes set
away out of the reach of the dogs. We cached,
most of our provisions, and fixed in small packs what we
deemed necessary for the next few days. Then we set out
over the trail, taking our turn at tearing up the little bushes,
and making the stones rattle down the mountain side. I
had become accustomed to climbs of this character during
the summer, and, difficult as it was, I could by this time re-
gard it as quite the usual thing. IMy companions also had
good muscles and lungs, and made no complaint. Besides,

(252)

A YUKON BERRY PASTURE 253

there were those stories about those wonderful pans of gold,
and there was no time to lose — at least, that was the way
we all felt about it.

After going half a mile or so the trail became less pre-
cipitous, and undulated through a ' patch of wind-swept
spruce and cottonwood. The ground was covered with
moss of that large variety which lies all over the Yukon
valley and hills, while everywhere were clumps of cran-
berry bushes, the berries being just in their prime. Huckle-
berry bushes also abounded. In a little while we came
to a swamp with a wealth of hummocks. The water in
the trail was over ankle-deep, but there was no use trying
to walk outside of it, so we splashed along, and soon came
to comparatively dry ground again. Some of my com-
panions grew very thirsty and looked about for water, but
none was to be seen. That in the swamp was not fit to
drink. On we went, picking a few cranberries by the way
to relieve thirst, and causing the grouse to flutter from
among the bushes, for berry time is their feasting season.

We met a returning party, and were told that we should
find a spring just before we reached the summit, but we
forgot our thirst a moment while they told more tales of
the great strikes of gold on the creek. We pushed on,
finding no spring; others came down the trail, and some
overtook us. We saw a down-trail man take an up-trail
man to one side and evidently whisper some advice. Once
I heard the word "pup " mentioned. In Yukon parlance
that means " gulch." Every creek has its pups, and if any
of them become of considerable importance they may have
pups also. The natural conclusion was that some of the
prospectors had struck it rich on one of the pups of the
Bonanza. Of course, I was then in utter ignorance of the

254 THE GATEWAY OF THE KLONDIKE

nature and locality of that particular pup. The world was
to learn about it lat^r on.

AVe finally reached the longed-for spring, and indulged
in a little rest, for we greatly needed it. People never
know what work is till they have followed an Indian trail
in Alaska for half a day. As we hun-ied on again to the
summit we encountered returning men about every half
mile, and they told of ricli prospects being found in different
places along the creek. Some of them thought they existed
only in spots and on the rim-rock,* otliei*s were sure the creek
was good from source to mouth. jSTow and then one assured
us that it was all a fraud, and that the men who claimed to
have got big pans never got them. These pessimistic pros-
pectors always looked weary and fagged out, and I knew
they had had no breakfast, and perhaps had no supper the
night before, and probably did not sleep much. In the
first place, doubtless, they had met poor luck in panning the
surface dirt, and, being wdtliout provisions, they had
naturally taken a very gloomy view of the whole subject.

On the summit we dropped down exhausted and took
another rest. As we toiled upward the trees had become
fewer, more scrubby and wind-swept, and at the top they
permitted a view of what lay about us. The Klondike
Valley made a beautiful picture in the- foreground. We
looked up the valley and could see the windings of the
silvery thread of water for fifty miles, and where it came
out of a gateway in the mountains fully one thousand feet
in depth, with the two sides so exactly alike and so evenly
inclined that one could hardly help believing this to be an
engineering feat of the Titans. Beyond this, and one

* Rim-rock. The efl2:es of the channels worn away in the rocks hy streams
of former ages. W'ithin these channels the auriferous detritus was accumu-
lated.

THE SNOWY GRANDEUR OF THE ROCKIES 255

Inmdred miles on either side of the round-topped moun-
tains which form the foothills of the Rockies now, but did
not once, as they are evidently a more recent formation and
upheaval, lay the Rockies, peaked and pinnacled and jagged
beyond description. Every ravine visible could be traced
by its string-like glacier, and as you followed one upward
with your eye you could see the side ravines coming in like
branches of a tree. In some cases these branches are suf-
ficiently numerous to give the appearance of an outline
drawing in chalk of a leafless tree.

I suppose if one should live constantly where such views
were ever before his eyes, they would become commonplace
enough. When at home in Vermont I used to hear of
people who seemed to be overcome by the majesty of the
White Mountains, and who, sitting on a rock on Mt. Wash-
ington,would break out with one of David's majestic psalms.
What would they do in the Arctic Rockies ? They are
wonderful, wheji one stops to look and to think, l)ut these
men who were passing up and down over the trail seldom
did such a thing as that. Big pans of gold ! That is the
vision before them, and one who lies tired, bruised, and
footsore at the summit, looking oft' on the wonderful scene,
cannot hel]i but wish that the Creator had put all the gold
away down deep in the bowels of the earth, where man would
never have known of it. Doubtless it was a foolish thought,
for that yellow metal will w^ork wonders on the mind which
may be unaffected by a view of these snowy billows of the
Arctic Rockies. The Indians have been going over such
trails all their days, and yet they are the dullest, dirtiest,
most unemotional creatures under the sun.

But we must move on ! "NTever mind the mountains !
Tt was to seek the golden creek and its pups that we were

'i56 A GOLDEN LEGEND

eliiiiltiiig over tlicse rocks, and we forced our tired muscles
iuto action and again struck into the traiL

After winding along on the summit for about a mile,
we began the descent, which is gradual for a half mile and
then becomes steep, then steejier, and, further on, most
steep. xVgain we were clinging to the bushes and rattling
doAvn the rocks. As we descended the rain began to fall
— one of those Alaskan drizzles, in which water takes the
place of the atmosphere. Nature does nothing by halves
here. The trail became very wet, soft and slipjDery, and we
slid and rolled along till someone declared that he must
rest. All were willing, and we crawled under the limbs
of the largest spruce we could find and tried to keep out of
the range of the drops from its branches.

Presently we heard someone struggling up the trail.
Soon a rough and jovial fellow of Hibernian mould came
into view.

" Are ye there, b'yes, and have ye ary a match ? "

We had.

" And wdiich way might ye's be goin' ? " he asked, as he
drew at a pipe of over-moist tobacco.

"\Ve pointed down the mountain.

'To Bonanza, is it? Begon-y, ye'r right. I'm after
thinking all the goold in the woniild is down there, but it's
a domned rough counthry."

Oh, yes; he had a claim, but he had not worked it. He
took one as near to the discovery as he could, set up his
stakes, and ran for provisions, like most of the others. He
had no idea what there was in the dirt he had staked off,
and he would not have for Aveeks, even if he worked, but —
" all the gold in the world was there." I had heard of such
places before. He told us to hurry, as there w^ere many

— UNPROMISING BONANZA CREEK 257

ahead of us, and then he puffed along up the trail, and we
straightened up and slid and tumbled along down. It did
not matter if the rocks were a little hard and sharp when
a slip was made and one of us came down with undue haste.
We were going to a place where there was all the gold in the
the world. An old story.

Finally we reached the bottom, our necks still unbroken.
^Ye were not at Bonanza yet. It was only one of her pups
which crossed the trail, something as yet of no consequence.
We brewed a little tea and ate some bread, that is, we called
it bread. " Anything goes," as the gold hunters say, in
Alaska.

Soon we pushed on towards the creek, the trail being
ankle-deep, and more, with slush and mud. It was one of
those tundra bottoms, which at a distance have such a fine
agricultural aspect, a tract of " niggerheads," and to walk
across such a place is one of the most fatiguing exercises
a man can take. Finally, after a mile or so of it, we arrived
at Bonanza Creek. It looked very little like a gold-bearing
stream. A little washed gravel could be seen, but few
glimpses of quartz w^ere to be had, and there was nothing
at all that an old miner would call an indication. It was
no wonder that prospectors had waded and tumbled over
these places and left them in disgust to the Indian hunters
and fishermen. We said to ourselves that if anyone had
got ten dollars to the pan out of this stuff, there ought to be
a million tons of gold within twenty miles of such a place.

We got out of the trail — if there was one — and had
to wade the creek and walk the banks; then wade again,
and so on very slowly, watching the location notices. At
last we found one, l^o. 64, which told us the disiancc to
Discovery Claim, for ten and a half claims make a mile.

258 A DISCOURAGED TENDERFOOT

'1 hat iiic-aiis about six miles, on paper, but several times
that Oil foot.

We plodded on, climbed over rocks, slid down rocks,
tumbled up against rocks, and met two men.

" Ho^v far is it staked ? " I asked, in a weary and dis-
gusted way.

" -Why, my number is 45 ; several men ahead of you; just
stop at Discovery and look in the sluice box; two Siwashes
packing dirt in buckets; George shoveling tailings."

George Cormack, as I have said, was the discoverer of
gold on Bonanza Creek. AVe thought we would stop and
look in the boxes, if we ever got there.

The men passed on, and we toiled ahead over a long
tundra bottom. A man ought to find " all the gold in the
world " to compensate him for such a tramp. The moun-
tain trail was a positive delight to this.

'' Say, let's blow a little," exclaime.d one of our com-

Certainly I was willing to " blow " a whole lot — in-
definitely.

A venerable Irishman, apparently a tenderfoot, came
plodding along, falling over hummocks and sinking knee-
deep in the mud beneath the weight of a heavy pack. Alto-
gether he presented a most discouraged, and disconsolate ap-
pearance.

" 'Av ye's seen onything of thot man Beecher ? " he
asked, as he came up.

" What Beecher ? "

" Hinry Wa-r-r-d Beecher."

" Xo. AVhat do you want of him ? "

" I'd loike to shpake wid 'im wan minnit. They do be
tellin' me he wunst said there was no hell," and he dropj>ed

WAY-WORN PILGRIMS. 359

his heavy pack and wiped the dripping perspiration from his
liushed face.

" Is it gold ye's do be afther here ? " he then ateked.

" Yes," I replied, with as little enthnsiasni as possible.

" All the saints help ye! " and he shouldered his pack
again with a sigh and groan.

The last number noticed was somewhere in the twenties;
two miles and more from George's. One of the men said
he could go no further that night. I looked at him and
thought so too. lie insisted that we should go on and leave
him, but right down in my heart 1 felt like doing nothing
of the kind. I was tired enough myself. He looked
thoroughly exhausted, and I doubted if he would have had
the strength to make a fire if we left him. It was almost
dark.

I could have crawled under a rock, under anything, and
gone to sleep at once, but his condition required a warm
fire and a hot drink. So we got wood, not particularly dry,
made a roaring fire on a sandy spot, and brewed a pot of
tea. Then we shoved our feet to the fire and meditated.

I thought after a while that I was rested a little, but
when I tried to get up I could hardly stand. I wanted to
take a look at a gravelly bar a few yards aw^ay before it
l)ecame too dark, so I hobbled down to it, and found nothing
but comminuted micaceous schist, with some glassy quartz,
such as is always associated with these stratified schists in
sheets and intervening layers. The mica was muscovite.
and T thought the whole arrangement must belong to the
Silurian age; that is, I thought so when T was too tired to
think clearly about anything. I might change my mind
when I could see the rocks adjoining these schists. But
it was a matter of indifference to me whether I changed my
16

•-2G0 DESPONDENCY OF WEARINESS

iiiiiid or not. If I did, all I felt like asking was that I could
do it lying down. I began to believe that I wouldn't stand
up for anything — not even for my native land. What a
place for gold !

When I started out, I regretted that Joe was not with
me to share in the fortunes of the great strike, but it would
have taken many days to reach him and to return. Besides,
I knew that as soon as these stories reached Circle City there
would be another rush. My best lay was to push in and get
a claim, and let Joe keep on working his. But now I was
glad Joe was on Birch Creek. Any one ^^'ho had seen the
diggings on Fort}^ ]\[ile, and on the tributaries of Birch
Creek, would think all these fellow^s running up this Klon-
dike waste had been driven out of their wits by the mos-
quitoes. I could dig a hole two feet deep in this stuff wdth
my hands, and the quicksand would run right in and fill it
i;p. AVho w^ould think that such loose stuff was full of
gold? I thought to myself that I Avould not wash a pan of
it if the owner would give it to me; but I was ignorant as to
who the owner was, and too tired to care. I hobbled back
to the fire and thought some more. AVe were all thinking
or trying not to think. Xo one said a word.

I spoke to one of them twice before he answere-d. He
remarked that he guessed he had forgotten his own name. I
was not surprised. Pie was too tired to remember such a
trifle. One by one they rolled themselves up to sleep
almost anywhere. I looked around for a soft spot, threw
my blankets down, and myself upon them. As I dozed off
the words of the Irishman we had met on the mountain,
" All the goold in the worruld is there," ran through my
brain and gradually faded into indistinctness as sleep over-
came me.

A POCKETFUL OF NUGGETS 261

"VVe awoke just as the daylight was beginning to work
its way into the valley, and found that we were chilled
through. A white frost spread over everything, but after
a cup of hot tea and a little bread we felt better. Sleep had
done us some good and we moved on up the trail, making
very good speed — as speed goes on an Alaskan trail. About
a mile from George's we met more men, and one of them
pointed to a spot where he had washed a dollar from a pan
of the loose stuff he called gravel. It did not appear to
have a washed pebble in it. But they had washed it out,
and, like so many others, were rushing back after pro-
visions.

At last we reached Discovery claim, where George was
at work. We took a look in the sluice boxes, and there was
certainly plenty of gold there. Some one asked him why
he was shoveling the tailings up on to the hillside, and he re-
plied that there was five dollars to the pan wdiere the tailings
dropped, the tailings, be it understood, being the refuse dirt
falling at the end of the sluice. He put his hand in one of
his pockets and drew out three nuggets worth about twenty-
five dollars.

*' Fished 'em out of the bottom of the creek with a
shovel," he said.

" Jimminy-crickets," observed one of my companions.

I thought so, too.

" Well, I'll be hanged," said another newcomer. He
looked like a fit subject for the operation. Still, we all did,
for that matter. After one has traveled a little in the
moose tracks of such a region as this, he cannot step out into
a civilized community in the same clothes without being an
object of suspicion.

We picked up our blankets and what little we had left

262 INSPIRITING REPORTS

to eat, for we had shared witli those who passed us on the
trail, with liardly enough to keep them alive, a good deal of
what we started with. They were in a hurry and had al-
ready staked out their claims. We walked back a ways to
cache the remnant, far enough, one would suppose, to be
out of the reach of the dogs at Discovery claim, but if we
had stopped to think, we were aware that the dogs would get
at it, no matter how far we went, unless it was put up high
enough. Still one always has a natural disposition to avoid
building a cache right over a dog's nose. This done, we
started on and found it very much easier without our packs.
The creek bottom gradually became wider and the hills on
either side lower, and it was plainly to be seen that the
greater part of the rush into the region had been along
there. It was fair to presume, therefore, that the best pay-
dirt would be found there, but I thought to myself that
there is no telling in such a field as this. Indications do
not indicate, in the Klondike. The only thing to do is to
stake anywhere.

After a wdiile we met more men, who said that the creek
was at least staked up above 60. One man infonned us
that he obtained twenty-five cents to the pan on 60. The
trail wound along over acres of tundra flats, and I thought
what a fine moose pasture it was, and expected to see a
moose, but they had evidently been frightened away by all
these people rushing in here and digging in the dirt. There
were plenty of moose tracks.

As we passed along I noticed a pup which seemed to
have a more inviting look for a gold-seeker. It certainly
appeared more like a gold stream, but, of course, like all the
rest at first, we rushed with the herd. Before we got to the
fork we met more men and learned that it was staked up

TAKING THE CHANCES 263

into the seventies. The trail did not reach above the forks.
Even the moose had deemed it wise to go somewhere else.

At last we came to the end of the claims and added ours,
blazing trees, and putting up our notices. Then we rested
a little, and looked around. We had no pans, and, in fact,
did not think of washing out any gold. It was all a chance.
Gold might be there and it might not. It certainly looked
little like it. Then we started back and reached our caches
at dusk in a rainstorm, built a fire, cooked what we thought
would appease our appetites, rigged up a blanket tent, and
went to sleep. We had seen the place where there is " all
the goold in the worruld."

We felt much better — tolerably well in the morning.
We were all foot-sore, but a little breakfast — all that we
had left — with some strong coffee, straightened us up, and
we were ready for the weary tramp back to the river over
the trail. As we traveled along we met plenty of gold-
seekers, all of whom asked about the same questions.

" Oh, yes," we told them, " it is a big thing."

We had no gold to show, but we told them about the
five-dollar tailings, and the nugg'ets fished out with a shovel.
We noticed a few men on their claims, but they were cut-
ting logs for houses and were not prospecting. Some were
working along with big packs, having been over before, and
Avcre now getting provisions in for the winter.

Back we climbed over the summit, and I stopped to look
again at the picture. The sun was shining, the day was
quite warm, and the ground was dryer than when we went
over. We could lie on the ground, pick berries, and eat our
fill. When at last we arrived in sight of the camp on the
river near the Indian village, we, in our turn, yelled like
Comanches and jumped and tumbled down the hills with

264 ONE DETAIL OF THE PICTUKE

the rattling rocks. There was an ever-accumuhiting crowd
there, and we were quizzed and " pumped." We told wliat
we knew, which, after all, was very little, and, as when we
went over, we noticed that here and there a man slipped
awav, and soon we heard them toiling up the bluff and the
rocks came rolling back down to the bottom. AVe slept
soundly that night, and I would not have had energy enough
to throw a hatchet at a dog if one had tried to eat up the
tent.

CHAPTER XVIII

THE DISCOVERY OF ELDORADO — THE FOUNDING OF
DAWSON — CONFUSION AND QUEER COMPLICA-
TIONS OVER CLAIMS — " THREE INCH WHITE."

Resting a Little — Carrying in Provisions — Promising Strikes of one
of the Pups — Eldorado — Joining Another Stampede — A New
Metropolis — Joseph Ladue and His Career — Mining in the Black
Hills — Attracted to Alaska — Sinking Holes without Success —
Faith in the Country — Grub-staking Henderson — How Ladue
Secured the Site for Dawson — His Sawmill — The Mines in
October — High Price of Lumber — Rapid Growth of Dawson —
Much Confusion as to Claims — Miners Appointed to Measure —
Fractional Claims — How They Came About — The Mystery of
the Rope — Hibernian Bluff — Jim White and His Attempt to
Secure a Fractional Claim — The Canadian Surveyor Arrives —
"Three Inch White"— How Claims are Staked — The Fees and
the Requirements.

WE took life as easy as circumstances allowed for
tlie next two or three days; indeed, we made
ourselves think we were actually deriving some
pleasure out of it, for, while an ever-increasing number of
feverish men were landing on the gravel beach and hurry-
ing on to the new region, and an ever-increasing number
were returning over the mountain trail, we were in the de-
lightful position of having staked our claims and of hav-
ing about a month's provisions at the foot of the trail. We
could feed the newcomers with interesting stories of what
we had seen, and hear the latest news from those who were

(265)

206 "any packing is cheap"

eoinino- out. AVo ate as niiu-li as wo thought we couhl ali'orcl
to, and nursed our feet a little. The tow on the river and
the tramp on the trail had been a severe ordeal for them.
As the time was fast approaching when the Yukon would
freeze over, and running ice had already increased the dif-
ficulties of navigation, many participating in the rush de-
termined to wait for the ice so they could sled their pro-
visions up the creek. In fact, quite a village of t€nts was
springing up not far from the mouth of the Klondike.

But dragging loads over the rough ice of these rapid
streams is, on the whole, not much of an improvement upon
packing over a mountain and swamp trail, so at the end of
four days we strapped on packs three times as heavy as those
we had first carried, and started out. It makes a great dif-
ference in carrying a pack on a trail whether a person is in a
hurry or not. Having our claim, we could afford to pro-
ceed leisurely and rest when we felt like it, without being
harrassed by the feeling that we might be too late. We
even stopped occasionally to break up a rock to see what it
was made of, and I admired the scenery to my heart's con-
tent. We chatted Avith those whom we met, and still made
about as good headway as when we first went over, and we
camped at the same places.

Once, while we were resting, a party of Indians carrying
heavy packs overtook us. Following them came the owner,
looking very weary under an extremely light burden. He
said he had hired the Indians to pack his supplies over;
" and," he added, " I got it done cheap, too."

" How much a pound? " I inquired.

" I don't know."

" Then how do you know it's cheap? "

" Oh, any packing is cheap over a trail like this."

AN AMAZING PANFUL 267

When we approached the creek again we learned that
big strikes liad been made on the "' pnp " that had looked so
l)roniising to me on onr previons trip, and that I had been
tempted to ascend and test. It seems that a party which
had rushed in when the news of the Bonanza was noised
aronnd had worked np the creek till their provisions had run
out. They were about to turn back and go to the nearest
trading post for provisions, when they met and joined an-
other party having more provisions than they needed.
While they were cooking their supper near the mouth of
the pup, one of them suggested that they walk up the bed
about a mile and wash a pan of the gravel. They did so,
and were amazed when one of the pans yielded over six dol-
lars. They at once staked out claims, and, returning, told
others. This had been the significance of the whispered
communications we had noticed between the ]iarties we en-
countered on the trail when we first came over.

We resolved to go up the creek and see for ourselves.
So, in the morning we pushed on and camped at its mouth.
It had been named Whipple Creek, after the discoverer,
and no longer bore the obscure name of " pup." I
ascended it, and found some men washing out gold
where the discovery was made, and I washed out a
pan myself. It contained about a dollar. The others
seemed to get about the same. Going on up the creek,
I found it staked for much more than half its length,
and I concluded that I w^ould rather hold the claim I had
than exchange for one here. Bonanza and this new creek
were in the same district, and no one was entitled to stake
more than one claim in a district. J^ot long afterward,
parties buying some claims on the new creek named El-
dorado.

'26S A NEW METROPOLIS

The next dav we heard of another rush for creeks in an-
other section. AVe joined in this, too, and tramped up the
Bonanza to the forks and thence over the mountain to Gold
Bottom, where the earlier discoveries of Henderson were
made, and thence down to Hunker Creek, to which tlie new
rush was directed. Hunker empties into the Klondike
about twelve miles from its mouth. By the time we
reached there the creeks were well staked, and so we went
over to the Indian River district and prospected along there
for a day or two without remarkable results. The snow
began to fly, and we finally made our way back to the
Yukon to await developments. During this tramp we met
the same obstacles and had similar experiences to those re-
counted in the previous chapter.

In the meantime Ave found that a new metropolis had
sprung up on a low stretch of ground on the banks of the
Yukon, just below the mouth of the Klondike. A clever
man could see that this flat was about the only place avail-
able for a city in that nigged region, and there was a clever
man there who saw it. In fact, the honors of the discovery
of gold in this district must be divided between Joseph
Ladue, who had fitted out Henderson, of whom we have
spoken, and Cormack, to wliom Henderson told of his find-
ings on Gold Bottom Creek. At the veiy time Cormack
was washing his first pans of gold in Bonanza Creek,
Ladue, who had not yet heard of Cormack's find, was com-
ing down the Yukon to locate a town site at the mouth of
the Klondike. He had heard from Henderson,

Joseph Ladue is, as his name shows, of French extrac-
tion, and was born in Plattsburg, X. Y., about forty-four
years ago. His grandfather was a French Huguenot, who,
driven from home in the early persecution of bis church,

THE YOUTH OF JOSEPH LADUE 369

settled with many others of that sterling faith in Canada.
He removed across the line into the United States and
located at Sclin jler Falls, abont ten miles sontheast of Platts-
burg, where Joseph Ladiie was born. His mother died when
he was seven years old, and his father, a stone-mason, mar-
ried the second time. Young Joseph Ladiie was strong and
active for his years, and a neighboring family, the head of
which was James H. Lobdell, took a liking to the lad, who
had found some things not altogether to his liking at home,
and who was ready, at the age of nine years, to accept the
adoption of his neighbor. Joseph was therefore brought
up under the influence of Mr. Lobdell and his wife — good,
old-fashioned Methodists — who sent the young man to
school and gave him work on their farm until he grew to an
age when he was ready to look out for himself. Upon the
death of his father in Iowa, in 1874, Joseph decided to go
"West and look after the small estate of his parent.

The affairs of his father's estate having been adminis-
tered, and his attention being at the time attracted to new
discoveries in the Rockies, he started for the Black Hills
with a fixed purpose of becoming a miner of gold. He ar-
rived at Deadwood in 1876 with about one hundred dollars
in his pocket, full of grit, industry, honesty, and determina-
tion. The town was enjoying a boom, and the young man
at once started in for himself by securing little jobs as a con-
tractor for moving houses and doing other public work.
Meanwhile he was constantly on the watch for better em-
ployment, his ambition being to secure a place in a quartz-
mine. The only place he could find came in about a month
in the shape of a job as engineer in the mine at four dollars
per day. The young man had never run a steam-engine,
and was utterly unfamiliar with mechanics, but his natural

270 GAINING EXPERIENCE

aptitude stood liim in good stead, and he accepted the ])hice
and for eigliteen months held it successfnlly.

In 1878 he was advanced to the position of foreman or
superintendent of the " night shift " of miners in the
famous Hidden Treasure mine, which was a most profitable
producer of gold. His pay was now five dollars per day,
and he spent all his leisure time in studying the secrets of
gold-mining. Mr. Ladue so thoroughly familiarized him-
self with gold-mining that he was fully competent for al-
most any task that might be oifered him, and he was soon
offered, and accepted, the place of superintendent of a sixty-
stamp gold-mill at the wages of ten dollars per day. After
a year in this employment he decided to strike out to make
a fortune, and for some years followed the adventurous life
of a prospector in Arizona and Xew Mexico. He there
found several promising prospects, and for one of these, in
ISTew Mexico, which subsequently failed to meet his expecta-
tions, he, unfortunately for himself, refused an offer of
twenty-five thousand dollars.

After two years of this hard, but practical, experience,
he decided to strike for the newly-discovered mining coun-
try in the British Northwest Territory adjoining Alaska.
He made the long and tedious journey to Juneau, and was
one of the first prospectors in that new country. He then
passed over into the interior, and it is a sigiiificant fact that
he was hunting for gold as early as 1882 within six miles
of the present rich mines of the Klondike. H he found
little gold then, he acquired a great faith in the richness of
the country and in its future. He did not fully explore the
valley of the Klondike, because it was his belief as an ex-
perienced miner that it was not of the right sort.

"Wlien Schwatka made his famous voyage on a raft down

PUSH AND PLUCK 371

the Yukon in 1883, he ran across Ladue at Charley's Vil-
lage. With a partner he was prospecting the streams in
that vicinity, which is about fifty miles above where Circle
City was founded later. Ladue was familiarly known
among the Indians as " Joe," and he was in great favor
among them.

For fourteen years, with a determination that never
faltered, and a confidence in his ultimate success that was
never diminished, Ladue lived in the dreary wilds of the
Xorthwest. LTp to five or six years ago his headquarters
were at old Fort Reliance. Every year he added to his capi-
tal by prospecting and trading, until at last a business open-
ing presented itself in the purchase of a profitable sawmill
at Fort Ogilvie, forty-five miles up the Yukon from Fort
Reliance.

Here the enterprising young man remained for five
years, earning money and carefully saving it, but his faith
in the golden resources of Alaska never abated. He met a
young Xova Sootian prospector named Robert Henderson,
in 1893. Henderson was about the same age as Ladue,
and in the solitary wilderness of the frozen IsTorth they es-
tablished a warm and lasting friendship. For three years
the thrifty Ladue furnished the necessary implements, tools,
and provisions of a prospector to Henderson — " grub-
staked " him, in the mining vernacular. Indications of gold
were found in many places, but nothing of great value until
one day Henderson came into Ladue's sawmill camp radiant
with smiles and carrying a small bottle. He held it up to
Ladue, filled witli bits of yellow metal. It was the gold he
liad panned out of Gold Bottom Creek, one of the tributaries
of tlie Klondike. This was on the twenty-fourth day of
August, 1896. On his way to Ladue, Henderson had told

272 THE RISE OF DAWSON

Corniack, a.-^ already related, and Cormack, on tlic twenty-
sixth, as the story goes, made liis strike on Bonanza Creek.

Ladue, who knew only of Henderson's find, saw that his
time had come. His keen eye for business was Avide open
now. He did not rush into the gold-diggings, for he fore-
saw the enormous value of the town site at the place where
he knew that a prosperous city must be located. He sent
Henderson with four horses and four men back across the
country eighty miles, to the new gold-fields. He himself
took a raft loaded with lumber and went down the Yukon
by the quickest route, landing August 28th, and located the
town site of Dawson City, on the only site in that rugged
country that had been left open for it. He built a store and
hastened to Tort Cudaliy, forty-five miles distant, to make
the ofiieial entry in the British Land Office. Having
secured this great prize, he looked over the gold country and
carefully selected and quickly purchased some of the richest
claims that could be found. He built a sawmill, which was
soon running day and night, and earning a little fortune
every twenty-four hours, in a region where the timber limit
extended fifteen miles.

Thus was Dawson started. AVhen the gold strikes were
made, in the latter part of August, there were not half a
dozen white people in the Klondike Valley. In a month
there were a thousand. The lumber mill did a big business,
and Ladue made thousands of dollars by selling cheap pine
lumber to the minei"s at one hundred and forty dollars the
thousand feet. The increasing cold made no difference to
the crazy miners at Dawson City and in the cabins along
Eldorado and Bonanza Creeks. By October about six
hundred claims had been staked out up and down both sides
of the creeks. The Canadian mining laws made five

HUSTLING TIMES 275

hundred feet along the creek or river bank a single claim,
and one man was allowed to locate but one claim in each
district.

Putting up a cabin in Dawson was expensive business.
Logs, which in that region means poles from four to six
inches in diameter, sold generally from four dollars to eight
dollars apiece. A man really needed almost as much money
as he would to put up a brownstone residence in New York
in order to secure a building which would have any of the
comforts of a home. The timber had to be hauled about
twenty miles, and the so-called hotels, which were soon
open, were little more than moderate-sized log houses, ad-
mitting of a few box-stalls. People who arrived late had at
once to set about finding a way to protect themselves from
the winter blasts.

What a hustling there was for lumber to build shanties
and cabins ! It was growing colder every day, and many
men paid over two hundred dollars the one thousand feet for
lumber. Laborers that got a few dollars a day in August
now were snapped up at fifteen and eighteen dollars a day.
The native Indians sold fur garments for one hundred and
fifty dollars each, or for some gewgaws that were more
precious there than diamonds are here. Lots were soon
selling in Dawson from two hundred and fifty dollars up
to ten thousand dollars. The Alaska Commercial Com-
pany and the Ts'orth American Transportation and Trading
Company quickly prepared to concentrate their forces and
supplies there. Moose meat was sixty cents a pound, and
all canned goods seventy-five cents per can. The com-
panies adopted a cash system, and carried as large a stock as
could be brought up. The government consisted of a gold
commissioner and the chief of the mounted police. T^ew

'^76 MEASURING CLAIMS

enterpriijC'^ t^praiig up every day, and, of course, the saloon
predominated.

iS'aturally, in such a rush of business and fever of spec-
ulation, there existed much confusion. Men who had been
in a chronic state of drunkenness for weeks had been pitched
into boats as ballast and taken u^ to stake themselves a
claim, and claims were staked by men for their friends who
were not in the country at the time. All this gave rise to
much contiiction and confusion, there being no one to take
charge of matters. The land agent not being able to go
up and attend to the thing, and the Canadian surs^eyor not
knowing what to do, the miners held a meeting and ap-
pointed one of themselves to measure off and stake the
claims, and record the owners' names, for which he got a fee
of two dollars, it being, of course, understood that each
claimholder would have to record his claim with the Do-
minion agent, and pay his fee of fifteen dollars.

Just how it happened no one seems to know, but it was
said that the men who were selected to measure the claims,
somehow slid in a forty, instead of a fifty, foot rope, thus
making the claims considerably short. Others have an
idea, w^hich is not entirely without reason, that when the
claims were first staked off, the excited miners, being-
anxious to secure all the room possible, would, in their
measurements, which were sometimes made at night, stretch
the line a little. The one taking the next claim would be-
gin where his predecessor left off, and stretch his line more
or less, according to his sense of morality.

However it happened there was considerable uncer-
tainty, and the miners finally petitioned the Dominion land
surveyor to come ur> to Bonanza Creek at once and settle
the complications that were arising. One of the late

A GREEDY PROSPECTOR 377

arrivals was an Irishman, who, when he found he could
not secure a claim, went np and down the creek, trying to
bully the owners into selling, boasting that he had a " pull "
at Ottawa and threatening to have the claims cut down
from five hundred to two hundred and fifty feet. He came
along one day and offered to wager two thousand dollars
that within a year they would be reduced to two hundred
and fifty feet. One of the men to whom he had made this
offer went to the Dominion surveyor and asked about it.

" Do you gamble ? " asked the surveyor.

"A little," was the reply.

Then the surveyor told him that he was never surer
of two thousand dollars than he would have been if he had
taken that bet.

This ran to such an extent that the surveyor put up
notices to the effect that the length of the claims was regu-
lated by act of the Parliament of Canada, and that no
change could be made except by that Parliament, and tell-
ing the miners to take no notice of t4le threats that had been
made.

A fellow kno\vn as Jim White located a fraction be-
tween jSTos. 36 and 37, thinking that by getting in between
he could force the owners to come to his terms, forgetting
that the law of this country does not allow any man to take
more than he has a right to. For three or four days this
state of things kept the men in an uproar. The surveyor
was making his survey, and getting towards i^os. 36 and 37;
when he approached them he delayed operations and wont
up to Xo. 36, finding there would be no fraction, or, at least,
an insignificant one of inches.

He worked along slowly, and in the moaiitiiiic flic owner
of Xo. 36 became very uneasy, and White also. The
17

278 FIVE INCHES FOR FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS

officer set in a stake down in the hollow iintil he saw how
much of a fraction there was. It was only a few inches.
He was purposely very deliberate with this portion of the
work, and the man who was with him seemed to have quite
a ditiiculty in fi>;ing the stake. Then the officer went down,
with the remark that he would do that himself. He had
made it a rule never to tell anyone Avhether there was a
fraction until it was marked on the post.

AVhile he was standing by the post Jim White came up
to him. He had a long way to go down the creek, he said
— and lie did not want to wait any longer than w^as neces-
sary.

" Well," said the surveyor, " I can't tell you just yet
exactly how much of a fraction it will be — but something
about three inches."

This is why -Jim came to be known as " Three Inch
White."

He resurveyed the whole group of claims, and the result
was a lot of fractional claims, which were open to entry.
This occurred at about the time some of the later arrivals
of the early winter were looking for places, and they
gTabbed these fractional claims on the rich creeks as fast as
they were declared open. These fractions varied all the
way from three inches to forty feet, and, were valued accord-
ingly. Of course, no one could w^ork the narrower ones,
but they were desirable property to the adjacent o^vners,
who either bought them outright or formed a partnership
with their owners. In one case it Avas reported that a frac-
tional claim of five inches sold for five hundred dollars, after
the richness of the adjacent claim had been determined.

In locating a claim on Canadian creeks, a man is sup-
posed to measure five hundred feet the way the valley lies.

LOCATING A CLAIM 279

and then run across from base to base of the foot-hills, or
from rim-rock to rim-rock. It must be marked by four
legal posts at the corners. Posts must be at least four inches
square. One post must be marked " initial post," and on
that post a written notice must be placed, stating number,
length, and general direction of claim, the date of notice,
and name of locator. All placer claims must be recorded
in the mining recorder's office of the mining division in
which such claims are situated within three days after loca-
tion thereof, if within ten miles of the mining recorder's
office; but one additional day is allowed for each addi-
tional ten miles. The recorder must be furnished with
the following particulars in writing: ISTame of claim,
name of locator, number of free miner's certificate, local-
ity of claim, length in feet, period for which record is
required, date of location. Placer claims may be re-
corded for one or more years on payment of fees — two
dollars and fifty cents for each year. After the miner
has located and recorded his claim, he, or some one on his
behalf, must work it continuously during working hours;
and, if unworked on working days for a period of seventy-
two hours, except during sickness or for some other reason-
able cause, the claim will be considered abandoned and for-
feited. Leave of absence for one year may, however, be ob-
tained by any free miner, upon his proving to the gold com-
missioner an expenditure equal to one thousand dollars in
cash, labor, or machinery on a claim, without any return of
gold or other minerals in reasonable quantities.

CHAPTER XIX

RICH^'ESS OF THE KLONDIKE GOLD FIELDS —THE GREAT
WINTER EXODUS FROM CIRCLE CITY — FIRST RE-
SULTS FROM TESTING PANS — MINERS WILD WITH
EXCITEMENT.

Realization of the Richness of the Klondike Claims — Why old Miners
were Skeptical — How Teuderfeet Suddenly Became Rich — Selling
Claims at Low Figures — Cutting Logs to Get Provisions — El-
dorado All Staked — Great Stroke for Some Men — Circle City
Skeptical — The First Big Pans — Excitement at Circle City — A
Mad Stampede — Scarcitj' of Dogs — Dogs at $2.50 Per Pound —
Some Big Strikes — Grumbling Canadians — Bed-Rock on El-
dorado— Lippy's Bargain — Nothing Like It in the History of the
World — Pans of Dirt AYorth Five Hundred Dollars — The ]\Iiners
Simply Staggered — Mrs. Berry Picks up $50 in Nuggets While
Calling Her Husband to Supper — Scarcity of Labor — Hunting up
Claims — Gold Everywhere — Opening Up New Territory.

IT was many weeks before anyone had a proper realiza-
tion of the richness of the newlv-discovered placers,
and for a long time all the excitement was confined to
Bonanza Creek and its tributary, Eldorado. Those who
staked claims were, of course, met with the same conditions
imposed upon all placer mining in Alaska. There were
several feet of frozen muck and gTavel to be worked out
of the way by the slow process of burning before anyone
could say what lay at bed-rock, and many old miners who
had been over the ground laughed at the idea of rich placei-s
in such a locality, and did not even take the trouble to join

(280)

GOLD ALMOST EVERYWHERE 281

in the rush, while others who did looked about in a know-
ing way and departed without staking any claims.

Stampedes had occurred so often, and had so generally
proved unprofitable, that the old miners had become weary
of them. They had, in their more tenderfooted days,
rushed from Forty Mile to Sixty Mile, to Beaver Creek, to
Birch Creek, and a lot of other creeks, in which the Yukon
Valley abounds. The fact w^as that there was some gold
almost everywhere, and when anyone stumbled on a spot
containing a particularly rich deposit near the surface, there
was the natural temptation to believe that the whole creek
was made up of such material. The miners had become
so tired of this unsettled state of things, the fatiguing jour-
neys, and loss of time, that they were disposed to regard with
discredit any reports of rich finds, and when they heard
that " Siwash George " had struck gold on the " Thron-
diuck," it was enough to make the soberest of them laugh.
Even had Cormack's reputation for truth and veracity been
first-class they would have doubted the value of his dis-
coveries on the creeks of a river which they had so often
prospected without success. They just lay back and
allowed the tenderfeet to rush in and stake to their heart's
content up and down this moose pasture, and that is the
reason why so many old miners were " left," and why so
many new-comers suddenly became rich.

But there were, as I have said, a great many miners
about Forty Mile and adjacent diggings who had be(>n work-
ing in poor luck and were sick and discouraged of the whole
country. These constituted the greater part of those who
first rushed into the Klondike. It was to them a last chance,
merely, and a mighty poor-looking one at that. They had
nothing better to do, and so rushed in.

282 CLAIMS BOUGHT AT BARGAIN SALES

Yet the way they sold their claims in the first weeks
succeeding the stampede is evidence of their lack of faith in
them. The}' had no money, or very little. Two-thirds of
all the claims could have been bought in September by
those who would have provided " grub " for the claimants
for the winter. As some of the poorer ones were unable
to raise on their claims sufficient provisions to enable them
to go to work, they sold out cheap to anyone who came
along with a little dust. Claims which were afterwards
worth thousands could have been picked up by the dozen in
September and October for a hundred or two dollars. Many
were sold, and old miners who had clambered over the trail
and staked considered themselves exceedingly fortunate in
receiving that small amount, and congratulated themselves
that by their rush they had at least made enough to pro^dde
themselves with a small supply of winter provisions. They
knew that to hold their claims, build a cabin, and convey
their tools and supplies over the rough trails to the new
creeks would cost them several hundred dollars, and that
the claims must yield something over ten dollars a day to
pay at all for working them. They had not a particle of
belief that the creeks would yield such a return. They
looked with pitving eyes on the tenderfeet who were greed-
ily acquiring claims in the new district,' and were confident
that in the coui^se of the winter they w^ould discover the
difficulties of working placers in Alaska, and in the spring
would somehow work their way out into other districts with
no money and little to eat, sadder and wiser men.

Only a few men remained on the creek after staking.
Most of them came back to Dawson, where affairs were
already becoming lively, and either sold out or wont to work
for what thev could get. Even the discoverer, Siwash

TAKING A BEE LINE 283

George, had been compelled to cut logs for the new mill
before he could get a few pounds of provisions to enable
him to begin work on liis claim. The fishing having totally
failed him, he got together as many provisions as he could,
and in the first part of September, with his wife, his Indian
brother-in-law, and another Indian, he set out for his dig-
gings. He was short of appliances, and managed to put to-
gether only three lengths of sluice-boxes, a very defective
apparatus, to wash what gravel he could before the ground
froze up completely. The gravel itself he had to carry in
a box on his back for a hundred feet. Notwithstanding all
this, it was soon reported that he had washed out one
thousand four hundred dollars by the first of October, and
it was known that he had as yet come nowhere near bed-
rock.

Up to this time the rush had not been so great as to take
up all the available claims on the creek, but the news was
reaching both down and up the river, and boat loads of men
continued to arrive. Once landed they made a bee-line
over the mountain. One of the greatest rushes was soon
after T returned from the creek, and soon after the discovery
of Eldorado. The little steamer Ellis landed with about
one hundred and fifty excited men, who poured over the
trail. Eldorado was staked in a jiffy, and many of these
turned out to be the lucky ones. They set about making
preparations for the winter, such as building cabins and
getting ready to sink holes on their claims. The pans
averaged about three dollars, with prospect of improvement.

What a stroke this was for some of the men may be
seen from a single instance. One of the men on the boat
had come from a little village in Oayuga County, ISTew
York. He was a cash boy in a Buifalo dry goods house

284: A FORTUNE AT LAST

ten ycai-s ago, and went "West as a tramp, riding on freight
cars, lie learned something abont mining in tlie gokl dis-
trict of California, and more in a spirit of recklessness and
adventure than anything else, he joined the Yukon mining
rush in 1894. He had a temble experience with cold and
hunger for two yeai-s, and suffered more in that time than
many men do in a lifetime of hardships. He was too poor
to go back to the United States, and so he stayed on the
Yukon. He tried gold mining in fifty different spots, and
lived on half raw" salmon for days at a time. He said he
was about to commit suicide in September, when he realized
that another long and dreadful winter was beginning. A
friend told him to go up to Klondike and make one more
trial anyhow, for there were iiimors at Fort Yukon, where
he was at the time, that the diggings were good on the Klon-
dike. He sold his rifle for passage on the last boat on the
river before navigation closed. In two weeks he had made
his claim to five hundred feet along Bonanza Creek and was
working in the cold and ice to get out the golden nuggets.
When, the following spring, he went back to the United
States, he had with him about thirty-five thousand dollars,
and he had worked but thirty feet of his claim.

Although news of the finding of gold on the Klondike
and of the rush there had made its way down to Circle City,
it at first created little attention. A few miners who were
in straits came up on the boat, but the majority remained,
and Circle City began the winter as lively a town as ever.
On November 23d a man by the name of Rhodes, located at
jSTo. 21, above the Discovery, on Bonanza, obtained as
high as sisfty-five dollars and thirty cents to the pan.
This was the first large pan of any importance, and Dawson
was thrown into a blaze of excitement. The news spread

AN EXODUS FROM CIRCLE CITY 285

up and down the river like wild-fire, and more men hastened
in. Some of the old miners who had gone away without
staking began to come back. In a little time the news
reached Circle City, but nobody would believe it. Yet
this claim on Bonanza was the one which really proved the
value of the district. The owner was in the habit of clean-
ing up a few tubfuls of dirt every night in his cabin and
getting en'ough to pay his workmen at the rate of one dollar
and fifty cents an hour. In that way he discovered the
richness of the dirt. Melting water enough to pan out gold
under cover was a slow process, but he found that the soil
paid him to do it. Others began to adopt similar methods.

Claim JSTo. 5, Eldorado, next produced a pan of fifty-
seven dollars. This was succeeded by one of upward
of eighty dollars. Then came one of one hundred and
twelve dollars. Soon after, claim No. 16 showed up
a pan of two hundred and twelve dollars, and this it was
that caused the intense excitement in that country. The
news went down to Circle City early in December, and it
at once emptied itself and came up to Dawson. The scenes
of the Forty Mile rush were repeated. The miners came
up any way they could, at all hours of the day and night,
with provisions and empty-handed.

It was a great day in Circle City, so they said, when
the news of the Klondike richness came with such force and
authenticity that even the skeptical old miners began to
believe it and quietly made their plans to go up the river. It
Avas carried down by J. M. Wilson, of the Alaska Commer-
cial Company, and Thomas O'Brian, a trader, and they
also had with them some of the Klondike gold. When it
was seen that a few were starting, of course, nothing more
was needed. It at once grew into a stampede. The price

286 DOGS SOLD BY THE POUND

of (logs jumped almost out of sight. In a few days tliey
were so valuable that they began to be sold by the pound,
first at one dollar and fifty cents a pound, and then as high
as two dollars and fifty cents. One man told me that he
saw one dog sold for twenty ounces of gold dust, and, as in
trade an ounce is worth seventeen dollars, the dog sold for
thi"ee hundred and forty dollars. The purchaser was de-
termined to go, and he had the money. He was bound to
have dogs no matter what they cost. It was a melancholy
time for the Circle City saloon-keepers, who saw the signs
of prosperity vanish, but many of them joined in the rush
for the new diggings. It was a melancholy time, also, for
those who had failed to go up when the river was open, and
now had not the means to buy the fancy-priced dogs, for they
were too wise to think of setting out without at least four
months' provisions, and it required dogs to drag that quan-
tity over the rough ice of the Yukon in the face of the biting-
blasts of the dead of winter. Yet it was the greatest ex-
odus that was ever known on the Yukon. As many as four
hundred men and women worked their way up, and none
of them lost their lives, though several had their faces and
toes frozen.

Dawson fairly leaped into importance. By the time
the Circle City contingent arrived greater discoveries had
been made, and the value of the diggings surpassed all the
dreams of the most sanguine. But locations on the Bonanza
and Eldorado had been staked weeks before. A good many
Canadians and othere who, at Circle City, had out-Ameri-
caned the natural, native-born Americans in their protesta-
tions and professions of Americanism, came up to Dawson,
which is in Canadian territory, in this rush with certain ex-
pectations in realizing something in the new finds by reason

SURPASSING RICHNESS 287

of their nationality, and made lond professions of loyalty,
cnrsed their hiek, and declared it strange indeed that a Cana-
dian or a Briton conld not get a foot of gronnd in his own
country.

In December bed-rock was reached on Ko. 14, El-
dorado, and dirt of surpassing richness was found. Other
holes began to go down in a hurry — that is, as fast as the
slow process of burning them out would admit. Pans were
taken out occasionally and tested, reaching from five to a
hundred dollars, and yet the workers could scarcely believe
it. They had an idea that they must have struck an un-
usually fine piece of dirt. In a hole eighteen feet deep,
on Eldorado Creek, two men struck a pay-streak that went
five dollars to the pan on the average of the testing they gave
it, and, without knowing it, they went on shoveling out
into the dump dirt which was rich in gold.

Many of those going in early, of course, had endeavored
to secure claims on Bonanza, but they could not be had, so
they rushed up the Eldorado. When Professor Lippy, one
of the fortunate ones, arrived there, this creek was staked
up to ISTo. 36, and he took that. But a man who had staked
No. 16 wished to go further up the stream, and they ex-
changed. When Lippy first struck the rich pay-dirt on his
claim, the man he had traded with was " joshed " by the
boys without mercy. He looked rather sober, but he, too,
could laugh after all, for his claim turned out to be very
valuable.

It was difficult for anyone to realize the richness of the
dirt, and even late in the winter claims were sold for a price
ridiculously low, considering what was in them. The
miners were continually expecting to meet a linn't to the
richness. Einally, pans as n*ch as five hundred were dis-

288 THE NEW GOLDEN RULE

covered, and nuggets containing gold worth as higli as two
linndrcd and thirty-five dollars were bronght to light.
Claims jumped up enormously in price, but still many sold
out for a small fraction of the value of dirt that lay in the
frozen dumps which they had so laboriously dug out of the
earth. Xothing in the history of the world had ever been
found to equal, or, in fact, to anywhere near approach the
yields taken from pans gathered indiscriminately. In an
early day in California the best claims ever discovered had
run but thirty-five to forty cents a pan, and these were con-
sidered marvels of richness. Alder Gulch, in Montana,
had been thought for years to have contained the richest
gravel ever dumped into a sluice-box, but even that was in-
significant when compared with not only one but many of
the claims on these two tributaries of the Klondike, which
was worked in a haphazard fashion.

But what was thought to be a profitable season in those
days could scarcely equal a few days' work in the new El-
dorado. Think of a pay-streak nine feet thick, one hundred
and fifty feet wide, and five hundred feet long, every pan of
which, so far as could be ascertained by sinking prospect
holes to bed-rock in various parts of the claim, would contain
over one dollar in gold, some of them as high as two hundred
and fifty dollars. Xor was this the exception, but the rule.
On one of the Bonanza claims a doubting Thomas was asked
to go down the shaft, pick a pan of dirt at random, and then
test it himself. He did so, and with a pan and small pros-
pector's pick he dug out a piece of gravel on the very upper
edge of the pay-streak, then another small amount a foot
lower down, then more was taken still lower down from
the opposite wall of the shaft, and so on until the pan was
filled bv the time bed-rock was reached. Ascending to the

"BEYOND THE DREAMS OF AVARICE" 389

surface, ice was melted until sufficient water was secured to
wash the gravel, and with his own hands the contents were
panned out. The task was of but few moments' duration,
and his doubts were entirely removed, as at the bottom of
the pan was found enough gold to more than cover a ten
cent piece, and it weighed two dollars and twenty-seven
cents.

When it is remembered that dirt that averages ten cents
to the pan is considered very rich, Avhat must it be when
it runs four and five dollars to the pan? On No. 6, El-
dorado, all the men that could be had were given employ-
ment during the winter at one dollar and twenty-five cents
an hour, and some fifteen or twenty prospect holes were
sunk to bed-rock, and the pay-streak located for a width of
one hundred and fifty feet, and averaging three feet in
thickness the full length of the claim. Pay-dirt was en-
countered immediately under the muck, which in that local-
ity is about nine feet thick, running from eight to twenty-
five cents to the pan, but the pay-streak was not considered
to have been struck until seventy-five cent dirt was reached.
Pans taken from the bed-rock on this claim simply staggered
the miners, as they not unfrequently ran as high as one
hundred and fifty and two hundred dollars.

The owner of this claim, Clarence Berry, worked his
claim more extensively than most proprietors, and his ex-
penses ran as high as one hundred and fifty dollars a day.
He settled with his employes every evening after working
hours, using only a pan and some water secured by melting-
ice to wash out the amount necessary to pay his labor. One
evening when Mrs. Berry came down from the cabin to call
her husband to supper, while waiting for him to come up the
shaft, she picked up over fifty dollars in coarse gold and

200 ONE DIFFICULTY IN WORKING CLAIMS

nuggets that were lying loose in the gravel just as it came
from bed-rock, not five minutes' time being occupied in
doing it.

The effect of sucli results as this in the camps along the
creeks was to make it practically impossible for an owner
of a claim to secure men to help in working them.
Some old miners would not work for any price. Sometimes
it was possible to rope in a newcomer and get him to work
for a few days for fifteen dollars, and a few old miners
worked on shares for a time and made good money, but
they soon dropped this to hunt up claims of their own. It
is impossible to work these Yukon placers successfully
without help.

The result was, that while many of the claim-owners
were lying idle waiting for someone to work their ground,
the men who were competent to do it, because they under-
stood the process and had the necessary provisions, were
prospecting among the creeks to see what they could find.
In the end, perhaps, nothing was lost by it, for it served to
open up a much larger district than anyone had supposed
possible, and other creeks came forward to share the honors
with Bonanza and Eldorado.

CHAPTER XX

WINTER IN THE KLONDIKE — CAMP LIFE AND WORK —
A MINER'S DOMESTIC DUTIES — CHRISTMAS IN A
GOLD-SEEKER'S CAMP.

Dreariness of Camp Life — Preparations for Winter — Cut Off from
the World — Even Labels Make Interesting Reading Matter — The
Only Library in the Camp — A Few Old Newspapers — Nuggets
for the Benefactor — Joe Arrives from Circle City — Gold, Gold
the one Topic of Interest — Forgetting the Day of the Month —
Domestic Duties — How We Kept House — Things That Must Not
Be Neglected — A Remedy that Kills or Cures — My Bread and
Biscuit — A New Recipe — Exorbitant Prices for Necessaries of
Life — Some of the Other Expenses — A Trip to Dawson — A Bit
of Recreation — Christmas in Camp — Story of a Christmas at Fort
Cudahy — No Turkey or Plum Pudding — A Klondike Christmas
— Presents for the Half-Breeds — How Toys were Obtained — A
Scene of Merriment — A Yukon Santa Claus — First Christmas
Party on the Klondike.

THERE is but one thing more dreary than camp life
and work in the gold-bearing placers of the regions
of the Arctic, and that is camp life and work in the
same regions when the placers bear no gold. There is less
difference than one might suppose. It is undoubtedly a
great relief to feel all the time that, as a result of hard
drudgery, rich dirt is being heaped up, and that in the
spring, after the long winter night is over, shining gold
dust and nuggets will buy some consolation in a milder
region where life is worth living. If there were no use for
gold except to spend it in Alaska, none of it would be dug

(291)

292 IN THE BUSY SOLITUDE

there. It is a splendid ooimtry to leave whether one has
gold dust or not.

When the middle of October came we were nearly cut
off from the rest of the world. Of course we heard from
Circle City and Forty Mile occasionally, through those who
came into the Klondike during the winter. Immediately
after the discovery and my short stay at the mouth of the
creek, I had taken an opportunity to send word to Joe, ad-
vising him to come up, as I thought the prospects looked
promising, and meanwhile I set to w^ork to construct a place
in which w^e could make life endurable for the winter on my
claim. It was nothing more than a liut backed up into a
crevice in the side hill, but I had neither the time nor
the means to pur together anything more substantial.
By a liberal use of moss, which is the cheapest article in
Alaskan regions, I flattered myself that I was at least pro-
viding for myself a warm place, even though the logs were
green and the ground of the cabin frozen.

As the nights lengthened, loneliness settled down like a
pall over the desolate gulch. The snow fell nearly every
day, mantling the great frowning hills. It was a scene of
solitude, and a time of deep silence broken only by the wail-
ing of the wind through the little spruce trees scattered
about on the hillsides. Miners, muffled up in their thick
winter clothing, passed up and down, and I had some neigh-
bors on the creek^ but there was little time for sociability.
liearly every one was busy working to bed-rock, setting
their cabins to rights, or getting their provisions up. When
the few rich strikes had been made, all who could redoubled
their efforts at their own shafts. When digging for gold
"with a feverish rusli and attending to household duties be-
sides, there is little time for sociability, and we were too busy

z <

THE CONTRIBUTION BOX 295

to think of the outside world. It would have done us little
good if we had, for there were no mails that we knew of.
According to the established regulations, mails were sup-
posed to be brought in from Juneau every six weeks, but
time-tables are of uo value in these regions any more than
they are for the Yukon boats. iSTo one wrote letters, and
there was hardly a bit of reading matter in the whole camp
except the labels on some of the boxes in which provisions
came. If one wishes to realize how interesting they can be,
let him camp in a gulch somewhere in latitude sixty-four,
M^orth America. A trademark on a pick handle becomes
fairly eloquent in that solitude. Two fellows named Dick
Butler and Charley Myers had been prospecting in the coun-
try for some time, and a friend of theirs in Seattle one day
had the forethought to wrap up a few newspapers and send
them in by one of the slow mails. These boys had about
the only library in the diggings in those old Seattle papers,
and the miners congregated from all the creeks and read
them, advertisements and all. One day when a crowd was
in the cabin Butler said :

" Boys, I don't min^ your reading the papers, but I
think you ought to remeiuber the fellow who sent them to
me. I'm going to put up a little contribution box," and he
left a bottle near the papers. They did not forget it, and
dropped in their nugfl|(sts. When in the spring the bottle
was sent to the Seattle friend it contained nearly four hun-
dred dollars' worth of the shining nuggets.

After Joe arrived with a part of the Circle City con-
tingent, life became a trifle plcasantcr for me, for it was
easier getting along and we could talk, though he was
naturally uncommunicative. But wlicn men who never
liad more than a few hundred dollars all their lives are faced
18

^96 THE ONE TOPIC OF INTEREST

A\itli the prospect of making a few hundred every day, they
are too restless to converse, or to think of letters or reading
matter. Gold, gold was the one topic of interest in that
gulch. There were fires to build from the pitch pine, and
then when the ground had been tha^ved and loosened, the
alluvial was dug out and put in piles, either in a warm cabin
or left out to freeze. Then the fires would be started again,
and more digging would follow. Then on alternate days
ice was melted, and the water used for panning the gold.
Sometimes a half ton of gravel would be worked over in a
day by those anxious to get out the rich metal. It grew
dark at two o'clock in the afternoon, and lamps and candles
were lighted. Then there was water to be made by melting
ice and snow for washing and drinking purposes, besides a
round of domestic duties in our cabins.

It A\'as hard work day after day. We never knew when
Sunday came, and there were constant disputes as to the day
of the month. We had no time for games or for mel-
ancholy, for we were all so weary from, hard work when
night came that sleep at once overcame us. In December
and January there was scarcely any light, and very little
work was done. Some miners built their cabins over their
claims, and by building a hot fire in the cabin kept the
ground more or less thawed all the time. They would go
down through the floors of their habitations to dig gold
from the ground some fifteen feet 'or more below. How
tired exery one got of canned food and salt meats ! ]\Iany a
time that winter I would often have gladly given one hun-
dred dollars in nuggets for a slice of beefsteak. It did seem
at times as if all the riches we were taking out were not to be
compared with even the lowliest home in civilization.

Domestic duties were by no means light for two hungry

ACTIVITY OF THE ALASKAN APPETITE 397

men during that dark winter, when the thermometer reg-
istered far below zero, honr after hour, and day after day.
It was easy enough to make beds in Alaskan diggings —
your sleeping bag can be chucked anywhere except out
doors — but making a fire or making bread is a different
matter. Some of the most trivial precautions are neglected
at one's peril. In their eager pursuit of the golden dirt, too
many of the tenderfeet that winter neglected to perfonn
those little duties which were necessary for comfort, and
which unperformed might lead them to within an inch of
losing their lives. Every day, as regularly as it came
around, I shaved splinters from the wood that we had cut,
to be dried on the Yukon stove for starting the fires the
next day. Without these dried splinters it was next to im-
possible to start a fire when everything was covered with
snow.

It was a question whether the gold dust or some of the
bread made in that camp had the greater specific gravity.
It is fortunate that in such a climate the digestive organs
are equal to almost anything. They will seize with avidity
the coarsest and hardest material, and clamor for more.
There is no possibility of getting the appetite into a less
active state, so that food will stay by a little longer. It is
like a roaring lion seeking what it may devour. A winter
in the Arctics, devoted to digging dirt out of a frozen hole,
is the only complete dyspepsia cure I ever saw. It will
either kill or cure ; indeed, it can do both.

I became quite an expert in making bread, which in
Alaska always means baking-powder bread or biscuit.
Some miners brought in a little yeast and tried to raise
bread in that way, but it was soon discarded for baking-
powder. My method was simple. I would take a quart

298 COOKING SCHOOL METHODS IGNORED

of flour, throw in a couple of tablespoonfiils of baking-
powder and about a half a teaspoonful of salt, and mix till
quite stiff with water, which had to be previously obtained
by melting snow or a fragment of a glacier. Then I would
grease the tin with the best grease that was obtainable, and
which usually was veiy poor ; but little things like that are
not worth a passing thought in an Alaskan camp. Having
a red-hot fire in the little Yukon stove, I would push the tin
into the oven, and in half an hour take out a loaf of bread
which, in the ravenous condition of our appetites, would
make our eyes water. The only difficulty was that a loaf
would disappear at eveiw meal, so that as long as our supply
of flour continued abundant I was compelled to bake two or
three times a day.

At evening, and that meant whenever we decided to
quit work, for it was night nearly all the time, I would often
make a few biscuit, though sometimes we were so tired that
we would eat something cold and immediately go to sleep.
My biscuit were concocted by nearly the same formula as
my bread. Having put a quart of flour, two tablespoon-
fuls of baking-powder, and a half teaspoonful of salt to-
gether, I would mix it while dry vdth lard, if I had any, but
more commonly with bacon fat. This I stirred in with
water, and rolled out the stiff dough on the smooth side of a
slab. The rolling pin I had manufactured from a section of
a spruce pole. Then I would cut the dough into circles
with the top of a baking-powder tin, and bake about fifteen
minutes.

But while we could eat enough of these to make a meal
in any ordinary climate, they were used only to piece out, as
it were. They had to be accompanied witb ?ome such staple
article of diet as flapjacks, or bacon, and beans or oat meal.

UNVARIED BUT COSTLY DIET 29<J

ISTo game came witliin sight during that long winter, and
we were too busy to look for it till our provisions began to
run out and it was difficult to obtain any more.

The prices we had to pay for some of the mere neces-
saries of life would drive the ordinary housewife into
nervous prostration. I have spoken of my biscuits and
bread as a great success, and so they were for the country,
but they were always hampered by the quality of the flour.
For this stale commodity we paid sixty dollars for a hundred-
pound sack. Codfish cost us forty dollars per hundred
pounds, pork sixty cents a pound, bacon eighty cents.
Sugar was sold only in twenty-five-pound lots for eighteen
dollars. There were a few potatoes to be had for sixty-five
dollars a hundred pounds, and we had very few of them.
Dried fruits ranged from seventy cents to a dollar a pound.
ISTow, when you consider that a man could barely keep his
appetite easy on four pounds of provisions a day, you will
appreciate the fact that high living is not always indicated
by the size of the bill.

Of this monotonous diet of stale and canned stuff two
men disposed to be economical would require about five
dollars' worth a day to be even tolerably comfortable.
Think what a variety of dainties in the way of food they
could revel in " back in the States." The miners of the
Yukon, by the way, always refer to the United States as
" back in the States"; and that word " back " is significant.
It indicates the feeling which is unconsciously uppermost
in the hearts of the majority, the purpose to get " back."
They are only waiting for the gold, and the old fellows avIio
have been in these regions so long have stayed because they
failed to find enough gold to make them a comfortable
fortune over and above what it cost them to winter. And a

300 TRAMPING DOWN TO DAWSON

good many have staved because they could not find gold
enough to enable them to get out.

The prices which provisions commanded were far from
being the only expense. Common flannel shirts were
eagerly bought at sixteen dollars each, while rubber boots,
that are absolutely necessary for placer mining, sold for
forty dollars a pair. Moreover, it required something like
thirty cords of wood for each man to work his claim during
the season, and, if this were not cut from the claims by the
men themselves, it had to be hauled from Dawson. On
many claims the wood \\'as exceedingly scarce; in fact, on
most of them there was none at all.

Slabs from the Dawson City sawmill were used for fires
in most of the mines, and immense numbers were bought at
fifty cents each, while sawdust brought twenty-five cents a
sack. All buying was done with gold. AYe became as
used to handling gold dust at Klondike before the winter
was over as a miller does to handling meal.

Occasionally, when the weather made working in the
mines uncomfortable or impossible, we would get com-
pletely worn out with the tediousness of life and tramp
down to Dawson to see what was going on and to get a bit
of recreation — anything to break the monotony. With
little to carry, and thoroughly prepared for the weather,
we could work our way along comfortably, observing what
others were doing farther down on the creek, and then
pursue our way down the frozen river. One of these trips
we took about Christmas time, but no one would have
known it at Dawson, which was then a city of a few log
cabins and a host of tents. Hundreds of people were too
busy keeping themselves warm to celebrate, but a good
many miners were do^^Ti, and there were many who were

CHRISTMAS GAITIES ATHlORT CUDAHY 801

staying there working in the sawmill, or clerking in the
stores, or in the various saloons and restaurants and dance
halls. These institutions were active, but no more so than
at any time. When the old miners came to town they cele-
brated anyhow, irrespective of the day of the month or of
the week.

Still, Christmas was not entirely forgotten in this region,
and there is a feature of the life on the Yukon which should
be mentioned. It is all the more noteworthy because it is
so rare. The little mission stations along the Yukon make
slow headway among the natives, but they still afford a
flickeiing gleam of a higher religious enlightenment. I
heard of a Christmas celebration down the river which
afforded a glimpse of the life of those who face the severe
climate for something besides gold. The story was told by
the wife of a man connected with the post in that locality.

The first Christmas she spent in the Yukon district had
been two years before, when, with her husband, she lived in
a log house at Fort Cudahy, about fifty miles below the
mouth of the Klondike.. There was but one other white
woman there, but it was a comfortable little community,
and the gold fever had not become epidemic. Two of her
husband's bachelor friends were invited to spend Christmas
Day, and she made extensive preparations for a feast that
Avould be a real Christmas treat. Turkey? They do not
wander around the Klondike waiting to be shot for Christ-
mas tables. Mince pie and plum pudding? Not on the
Yukon. The dinner consisted of a huge haunch of roasted
bear meat cut from the carcass of an animal that had been
killed hundreds of miles away, and they were glad enough
to get even such meat. Bear meat is very much like roast
pork, and, if tender, is quite a dainty dish when properly

30v^ A HO?i T^^IKE FIRESIDE

proparetl, Tlicy sat and tiilked all day with tlie wood
blocks heaped up on the blazing hearth, and the rough log-
walls of the house reflecting cheerfully the light from the
flames that danced and sparkled around the chimney corner.
Outside it was a vei*y cold, cold world. Christmas weather
in the Klondike is not comfortable. The w^nd howled
around the log house and the snow fell, steadily accumulat-
ing until it made a thick wdiite covering that effectually kept
any drafts from finding their way in. The thermometer
outside registered fifty degTees below zero. But inside they
were as cosy and warm as any eastern home heated by
modern appliances could be, and in their quiet way, though
many thousand miles from what they really called home,
they enjoyed themselves and were happy. The men were
certainly grateful for some homelike fireside to gather
around on that Christmas day in the Yukon.

Her Christmas day of the winter when we were there
was different from the previous one, and approached some-
what nearer to the ideal Christmas of the East. They
actually got up a party at the post, and had a Christmas tree,
and games, and a real old-fashioned time, indicating that
the Klondike region had advanced some in civilization. It
all came about through the efforts of the Kev. James ISTaylor,
an Episcopal minister who had buried himself in the Klon-
dike, and had devoted his life to work among the Indians
and half-breeds there. He had gathered at the post a
numerous contingent of little half-breed children, who had
been Christianized and partly civilized and made permanent
attaches of the station.

Having taught them the meaning of Christmas, Mr.
]^aylor decided to show them that it was a time to be joyful
by giving a party in which Santa Claus w^as to make his

SANTA GLAUS VISITS THE KLONDIKE 303

initial bow to a mixed audience of whites and half-breeds,
and go through his customary performance of distributing
toys and other gifts. The weather was all that Santa Claus
could have desired.

But where could they get toys in that region, where
every one was only too thankful to procure sufhcient to eat
and wood enough to cook it when procured? It happened
in a strange way, but it is perhaps not so strange when one
observes how many seemingly useless things gold-seekers
bring into this country. One man with a trading instinct
had come into the Klondike region late in the fall, and had
stuffed into his pack several toys and other nicknacks where
he ought to have put food. But it came out all right.
Every white mother in the country around was willing to
pay its weight in gold for any pitiful looking toy that bore
the trademark of a city store. The man sold his toys and
candy at his own prices, and was not such a freak after all.
In this way Santa Claus was enabled to keep his contract
with the little folks in the Klondike that year.

When the day came and the people around drove over
to the mission where the party was to be given, the ther-
mometer was at its Klondike lowest, and frost-bites threat-
ened any' nose that showed itself beyond the fur. Teams
consisting of half a dozen dogs were rigged up, and women
and children enveloped in furs to their eyebrows climbed in,
and off they went over the hills and the frozen river with the
dogs trotting along at their best pace to the door where Mr.
!Naylor awaited them. Inside all was merriment and laugh-
ter. The members of the little half-breed colony, about a
score of children, were in such a state of gleeful expectation
that they were ready to stand on their heads at the slightest
provocation, and they did this at every fresh arrival. They

"304 A MERRY CHRISTMAS

were all gotten up in their Sunday best, but some of the
white children wlio had come in had to waddle about in their
fur boots.

Nothing like that Christmas tree was ever seen in the
Klondike before. There were real dolls gaily attired, and
with real eyes and noses instead of the featureless baseball
heads w'ith which the Klondike children had been forced to
satisfy themselves. There were horses and wagons, dancing-
figures, and tiny drums, and other contrivances which bring
joy to the juvenile heart, no matter in w^hat latitude it beats.
The toys were packed in bags made from mosquito netting,
which was the only material available. Then Santa Claus
came down and distributed them. How^ the little eyes of
the half-breeds stuck out! They thought he w^as the
genuine article. He was gotten up for Yukon weather in
a great furry " parka," with the hood turned up around his
face. In lieu of a genuine white beard he had pow^dered
his own beard with flour, and no one of the children knew
who he was, so effectually was he disguised. He distributed
the toys to the great delight of the little half-breeds, w^ho,
after a time, could scarcely express their feelings, even by
standing on their heads.

After that they went in for a series of old-fashioned
games, of which blind-man's-buff proved the favorite. The
mission house was built of rough untrimmed logs, like all
the best houses, but some attempt had been made to decorate
the interior, and with light and warmth and the merriment
of happy children, it needed no very great stretch of the
imagination to forget the white and frozen earth outside,
and fancy ourselves at home again. The party broke up
about midnight — the first genuine Cliristmas party, so far
as I have heard, in the country of the Klondike.

CHAPTER XXI

ALASKAN WEATHER — ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION-
HOW WE PULLED THROUGH — DANGERS OF WINTER
TRAVELING — PAINFUL EXPERIENCES.

The Paradox of Alaskan Weather — A Difference in Humidity —
Miners' Thermometers — Time to Take Care of One's self — Seventy-
two Degrees below Zero — Sunset and Sunrise — Dangers on the
Trail — We Discard the Hut and Take to the Tent — Building
Fires in the Morning — Hearing One's Breath Strike the Air — An
Involuntary Bath — Painful Experiences — Eyelids Freeze To-
gether— Protection against the Bitter Cold — The Parka and Its
Uses — An Alaskan Opera Cloak — As a Frost Protector — Care of the
Feet — Snow Shoes — Shortage in the Food Supply — How it Seems
to be without Salt — Sold for Its Weight in Gold— The Pulling-
Through Process — Northern Lights as a Compensation for a Win-
ter in Alaska — Their Brilliancy.

THE weather in the Alaskan latitudes is, like many
other features of the country, not readily appreci-
ated and understood by those who have never been
there, but have simply read about it. I have suffered more
from the cold in Colorado than I have in the Klondike; and
more from the heat on the Yukon than I have in Colorado.
In Alaska in the winter of 1896 snow did not thaw a particle,
except a little while during four mild days in February,
from the time in Xovember when everything froze up till
the middle of April. JMost of the time during what we
call the winter months the mercury was far l)elow zero, and
the lowest that I saw recorded was seventy-two degrees.

(305)

306 THE PARADOX OF THE WEATHER

111 a g'ciieral way, this paradox of the weatlier may be
explained as simply a difference in humidity. In Arizona,
for example, the hot weather is dry, and the cold weather
is apt to be damp. In Alaska the hot weather is damp, and
the cold weatlier dry. When the thermometer registered
eightj-five degrees one summer day on the Yukon, the air
was filled with a hot moisture; not a breath wss stirring,
and the sun shone on with no interruption from clouds for
twenty-two hours. A person could hardly breathe, and I
saw men quit work who would not think of doing so were
the mercury thirty degrees below zero. The cold weather
of the Klondike does not seem cold in a still day, and yet
there are many days when a man can step out of his cabin
and freeze his nose before he can count sixty. One who
takes thoroughly good care of himself need not suffer seri-
ously from the cold in Alaska. Otherwise, he is sure to
suffer. Indeed, he may freeze to death by overlooking a
few essentials.

There were not half a dozen regular thermometers in
the camp that winter, but the specific degree of coldness
did not worry the old miners, unless their mercury bottles
froze up. Then they knew it was time to take care of them-
selves. These mercury bottles are the miners' thennome-
ters. They have need of quicksilver in separating their
fine gold, and so they always have it at hand. They take
a little bottle of it with them when they are traveling, and
when the mercury freezes they generally, unless in a great
hurr;\^ or in a tight place with no ]")rovisions, go into camp
and wait for the weather to moderate, for it indicates a tem-
perature of at least forty degrees below zero.

The winter of 1896-97 was said by the old-timers to have
been a remarkably mild one. It was true that it began so,

DARK DAYS OF WINTER 307

and the average temperature did not fall permanently below
zero till in November. But it made up for this delay in
March. The coldest day, according to my observations,
was on the 15th, when the mercury stood seventy-two de-
grees below at eight o'clock in the morning. From the
4th of March till the 23d it was never above fifty degrees
below. It was quite cold some days in January and there
were many days below fifty degrees.

It may be imagined that weather of this character is not
exactly propitious for gold mining, and very little was done.
Of course, the man down in the hole could stand it very well,
shoveling up the embers of a night's burning, but the man
at a windlass at the top was in a less agreeable position. But
he was, on the whole, much better off than the man in the
shaft, who, when work was over, frequently came up hot
and perspiring, and the cruel blasts chilled him through in
an instant.

In the Klondike region in midwinter the sun rises from
0:30 to 10 A. M., and sets from 2 to 3 P. M., the total
length of daylight being about four hours, but the sun
never rises but a few degrees above the horizon, and many
are the days when it is wholly obscured. The wind blows
almost constantly, and while the snow seldom falls more
than three feet on the level, it is always present from early
October to April. When the reader couples a condition
like this with the fact that day after day mercury will re-
main frozen if left outdoors, he may begin to imagine the
desolation of a life amid the lonely gulches of the north, far
from all that civilized people are used to.

The changes of temperature from winter to summer are
rapid, owing to the great increase in the length of the days.
By May the sun is rising at about 3 A. M., and setting about

308 nature's changeful moods

'J r. M., aud by June it is rising at 1 :30 in tlie morning and
setting about 10:30 P. M. Either in summer or winter the
resident of the Yukon must be prepared for the greatest
changes. When the sun shines the atmosphere is remark-
ably clear, the scenic effects are magnificent, all nature
seems to be in holiday attire. But the scene may change
very quickly; the sky becomes overcast, the winds increase
in force, rain begins to fall, the evergreens sigh ominously,
and utter desolation and loneliness prevail. These -treach-
erous conditions will lure many a brave fellow to death upon
the lonely trails. The soft autumnal languor of that lonely
land may change within an hour to the darkness of the
swirling storm. A\nien Xature thus changes her smiling
mood for the tempest's frown, the mountain trail becomes
charged with ten'ible dangers.

In the winter this danger is increased. A storm may
break from the clouds, and for many long hours the frigid
blasts, filled with swirling snow which cuts like a knife, will
overwhelm the brave traveler unless he is prepared. The
native Indians will stick a couple of poles in the snow and
hang their blankets up against the wind, and let the snow
drift over them. Usually they will come out all right, but
they are accustomed to the climate and its hardships, and
no newcomer should be caught in such a predicament. It
means death nine times out of ten.

Joe and I managed to endure the winter very comfort-
ably, though we quickly discarded as a habitation the little
hut I had constnicted out of gToen logs. We set up the
tent in front to live in and used the hut as a sort of store
room for tools and the like. It was too small for comfort,
and the air became too intolerable for two persons in the
long nights when venls had to be closed to keep out the

LIVING IN A SNOW-BANKED TENT 309

cold. We moved the stove into the tent and enjoyed life
much better. Little by little the snow banked around it and
over it, so that after a time it was quite warm, though, of
course, much cold air came in at the entrance, no matter how
well closed. After the fire went out at night it cooled off
very quickly, and it was as cold as out of doors, but the tent
kept off the wind. One could hardly get under blankets
enough to keep warm, but with a pair of blankets and a good
robe I was more comfortable than those who were using
sleeping bags. During the summer when I went down the
Yukon, I traded with some Indians and secured several fine
lynx skins. I had them made into a robe at Dawson, and the
whole thing cost me about seventy-five dollars. It was
eight feet long and seven feet wide, and lined with a heavy
woolen blanket. Before I had lived through half that
winter I had made up my mind that I would rather throw
away my gold mine than that robe. It was worth more
than twenty blankets for comfort, and some of the miners
in the camp ofi^ered me twice what I paid for it.

But in spite of all the precautions we took, and the care
we exercised in small details, we could not fail to suffer
some. It was rather cold getting up and building a fire
when the thermometer Avas fifty degrees or more below
zero. It was all the more trying because I had slept as
warm as toast in the robe. Mornings when it was so very
cold, and no wind was stirring, it was as still as death, and
I could actually hear my breath strike the air. There was
a sort of a crackle when the warm lireath met the cold atmos-
phere, and it was at first painful to draw such cold air into
the lungs. But, strange to say, I was never troubled with
a cough, and never felt the slightest touch of a cold until
late in the season, after the ice had begun to break up. One

310 A COLD WALK

day, wlicii coming up to camp from Dawson, I slipped and
fell in the river, and neglected to change my clothes. I
worked several hours after reaching camp, and, after drying
a little before the fire, rolled up in my blanket and went to
bed. Instead of killing me, it only gave me a slight cold
for a week.

I had a much more painful experience in January, when
I started out from Dawson to pull a sled load of 'provisions
up to the camp. When I had gone a few miles I became so
cold that I could not pull the sled. It was too far to go on,
so I left the sled there and walked back to Dawson. In that
way I could keep tolerably warm, for one can keep warm if
he moves fast enough, but if he stands still he will freeze.
My eyelids kej)t freezing together, but I had to be very
careful about pulling off my gloves to thaw them apart. I
did it as quickly as I could, but several times my hands
nearly froze before I could get them back into the big mit-
tens. When I reached Dawson City the thermometers
registered fifty-eight degrees below.

One need not fear these uncomfortable experiences if
he be properly dressed and prepared for them. A common
winter dress of the mines is a gannent that the native
Alaskans sell. It is a blouse of heavy skins, with trousers
of seal. These are fastened close about the body, which
is enveloped in two or more suits of heavy underclothing.
For footwear, low boots of tough walriTS hide or rubber boots
are worn. Mittens and hoods of bear or dog skin are es-
sential.

But the gTeat institution in Alaska, so far as wearing
apparel is concerned, is the " parka." Whenever the coat
of arms of the territory come to be designed, there are four
objects which should be worked in somehow; these are a

THE INDISPENSABLE PARKA 311

cache, a dog, a mosquito, and a parka. If tliat is not enough
the artist might put a glacier in the backg-round. The
parka is of Indian origin. Xo matter what part of the great
territory the Indians come from, or to what tribe they be-
long, they wear this garment. It is made like a big shirt,
coming down to the knees, and with no opening front or
back. It is just slipped on over the head, and attached to it is
a hood, trimmed around the face with fur. The Indian par-
kas are usually made entirely of fur, the fur being inside, and
the sleeves, especially of the parkas of the lower Yukon In-
dians, are made so large that if they wish to pull their arms
inside they can do so with no trouble. They can snuggle
down in these garments until completely out of sight.

The Yukon miner and trader has adapted the Indian
style to his own uses, and the usual parka is made of blue
denim or overall cloth, with a bit of fur around the opening
of the hood. When the temperature is fifty or sixty de-
grees below zero, however, the all-fur parkas are better and
are common. These garments are useful not only to keep
out the cold, but to keep the frost off. For when one goes
out in severe weather the breath congeals in a white mantle
all over the parka. Going indoors, it of course thaws, and
if one stays long he throws it off. Going out again, it
freezes stiff. But it keeps the clothing underneath in good
condition. It is a sort of " opera cloak." If one leaves
his tent to go down into the city of an evening, he slips on
his parka. If working, the under coat may be dispensed
with ; not so the parka. As a frost protector it is as valiiabh'
then as it is when going to the theater or the otlier places of
amusement.

In severe weather — that is, when the mercury is frozen
• — the hands, face, and feet must be watched closely.
19

312 A GLACIER ON THE CHIN

Otherwise tlicj will have a tendeuey to freeze before you
are aware that they are cold. I used to wear a heavy pair of
woolen stockings which came nj) to my knees, over them a
pair of fur socks, and then moccasins. One will make a
track in the snow as big as that of an elephant, but none too
big to enable one to get along comfortably. Indeed, snow-
shoes are generally needed, for the snow never packs solid
except in the trail, and a person will drop clear to the bottom
of almost the deepest snows if he steps out of the road,
unless he has on snowshoes.

There was some difference of opinion in the camp as to
the advisability of wearing whiskers during an Arctic win-
ter, and there certainly are two sides to the question. Shav-
ing oneself is not an easy process when living in a tent, and
when the air is apt to be chilled by the blasts which find
their way in. Moreover, whiskers are of some protection
to the face and throat when facing such blasts outside.
But, on the other hand, this very protection becomes a
nuisance of the most exasperating character. I have
spoken of the way in which the frost congeals upon the
clothing. But that is not a circumstance to the freaks it
will play with a heavy beard. It will settle in and through
it till it becomes a solid mass of ice, and cannot be thrown off
like a parka when entering a warm room. The only thing
to do is to sit over the fire and let the glacier on your chin
melt. In view of this inconvenience, the majority of
miners keep their whiskers trimmed very short in winter,
and allow them to grow in the summer as a protection
against mosquitoes. Then they are a real blessing, and
many times a man will wish himself as hairy as a baboon.

Towards the end of winter the food supply in camp and
at Daw'son ran very low, — a common spring complaint

ON THE VERGE OF STARVATION 315

in tlie upper Yukon region. Although the trading com-
panies had concentrated what supplies they could at Daw-
son, the discovery of gold had taken place so late in the
summer, and had been followed so quickly by ice, that by
March there was much difficulty in getting anything. A
few supplies were brought up from Circle City, and a little
flour was dragged up from Forty Mile. It was also possible
to buy a little caribou or bear meat occasionally, but by
the time the snow began to melt there was practically
nothing in the camp but beans, and fully two hundred men
lived on these for several weeks. We nearly starved, or, at
least, we thought we did. It would not have been much
of a job to get together a million of dollai's' worth of gold
dust along the creek, but such a thing as a good square meal
was not to be had. It is fully as unpleasant to be without
salt as it is without flour, yet salt was so scarce that it could
be obtained only in .the most insignificant quantities and at
the most exorbitant price. It was actually worth its weight
in gold to some of the miners. A party on the creek ran
completely out of this article, though they had a fair amount
of other provisions. They said they really felt as if they
should die did they not obtain salt somehow.

Near them was another party having salt, but they re-
fused to part with any of it. It was insisted that it ought
to be shared, and that the party having it must sell at a fair
price. It was 'ascertained that the party owning the salt
had very little gold dust, and those without salt had an
abundance. So it was finally arranged that the owners
of the salt should part with a portion of it, and that it should
be weighed against the precious dust. Thus was salt act-
ually sold for its weight in gold.

When matters reached this pass the provisions Ix^came

31G ONE OF ALASKA'S WONDERS

to a certain extent common i)roperty. ]^o one was allowed
to starve so long as anything was left in the camp. Mean-
while the cold remained intense, and our appetites knew
no bonnds. But we never quite reached the starving point.
That has always been the way on the Yukon. Every year
the people there come near to starvation, but they pull
through somehow. This " pulling through " process can-
not be appreciated by simply reading about it. It must
be experienced.

There is one spectacle which compensates one for these
long, cold winter twilights and contingent hardships; one
thing which is Avorth the spending of a winter in the Klon-
dike, or any part of northern Alaska, the nearer the Arctic
Circle the better. It is not the gold. The more I reflect
on this life and the hereafter, the more I am in doubt as
to whether the gold in the frozen placers of Alaska is in
itself worth going after. But the aurora of Alaska is worth
seeing, even if you have to live on short rations of bacon
and beans for three months and find no gold. Some people
seem to care very little about it, and to old miners the spec-
tacle undoubtedly becomes commonplace, as it has to the
natives. Perhaps I was born a little sentimental as to the
wonders of Xature, and the celestial wondei*s in particular.

Some clear, still, cold nights, wlien the indications
favored a brilliant display of northern lights, I have put
on my snowshoes and climbed back on the hillside " just to
drink them in." It may be vain to attempt to describe such
a scene, for one must see it for himself; must stand on one
of those hills in a country mantled with snow, among the
trees which bend under their spotless burden, every twig
a cluster of feathery whiteness. It is night, and yet not
darkness, only a soft, subduing absence of the sun's rays.

THE GRANDEUR OF AN ARCTIC AURORA 317

Over the hills and valleys silence broods in all its cold per-
fection. Overhead the stars glitter as they do only in these
still, cold nights in the far north.

Then one becomes aware of a sort of weird and formless
presence in the sky, and the stars seem to be dancing on
silvery billows. A queer electric crackle breaks npon the
stillness, and in an instant the sky is painted with quivering
bands of yellow, changing into every color of the rainbow,
darting with the rapidity of lightning, and changing every

second.

" Glowing wide and bright, then narrow,

And then flashing broad and golden,

Sending long bright crimson fingers

Far across the cloudless ether.

Rosy lights grow clear and vivid.

Pale to tints of faintest blushes,

Then burst out in glorious shading

Close beside the soft, blue azure

Where the sharp, clear edges mingle

In the softest shades of purple.
" Pale-green shafts shoot out and quiver

In the glorious brightness !

Flaming pencils touch the hilltops.

Sending slender rainbow arclies

Down their glinting shimmering mantles.

Bushes, trees, and shining grass blades

Catch the gleam of gold and crimson,

And throw out swift, starry flashes

Toward the gay, auroral brightness.
" In the north a glorious archway

Casts its glancing rays and shafting,

And uplifts a glittering halo

Far across the dark-blue zenith.

Downward flings its mingled shading —

Gold and blue, and green and crimson,

Yellow, tender pink, and purple.

Shrinking from the icy contact,

And then sweeping through the cloud patlis."

CHAPTER XXII

PREPARING FOR SLUICING — THE SPRING "CLEAN-UP"—
ASTONISHING RESULTS WHEN DIRT WAS WASHED
OUT — SOME LUCKY STRIKES — THE ROMANCE OF
FORTUNE.

Joe and I Have Poor Luck — Trying to Locate the Pay-Streak — Big
Pans in March and April — Pay-Dirt — How the Value of the Dirt
is Reckoned — Old Miners Begin to Speculate — Expense of Getting
Sluice Boxes — Some of the Fortunes — Berry and His Wonderful
Strike — Very Blue when He Heard of the Klondike — Takes Out
1130,000 — A Bird in the Hand vs. a Bird in the Bush — A Wiscon-
sin Schoolmaster's Experience — Worth a Million — Better than
Trading — Sudden Rise in the Value of Claims — Computing the
Value of a Bonanza Claim — Wonderful Results — The Aggregate
Amount of the Spring Work — Some of the Lucky Ones on El-
dorado Creek — Fortunes on the Bonanza — Lucky Days — " What
Will I Do With All That Money ? "

HARDLY more than a score of tlie claims on Bonanza
and Eldorado creeks were tliorouglily worked dur-
ing that long winter of 1896-97. As already men-
tioned, labor was scarce, and the newcomers who had ac-
quired the rich territory were unable to do much except in
a small way. Joe and I had poor luck in finding the pay-
streak, and it was well towards spring before our pans began
to make any unusual yields. Those who had secured help
and worked their property more extensively were generally
unaware of what Avould develop in the spring clean-up,
though the richness of some of the better known claims was

(318)

A PAN OF EIGHT HUNDRED DOLLARS 319

fairly well known, for at times the gold fairly stuck out of
the dirt. The tests that had been made had given an aston-
ishingly high average, and as bed-rock was reached the re-
sults were simply staggering. About the middle of March
two boys, one from Juneau and another from Stuck Valley,
Wash., began to take out wonderful pans from the bottom
of their shaft. They were not quite sure of the evidence of
their own eyes, and invited another man to go down and
]nck out a pan of dirt in the pay-streak. He did so, and was
surprised to find two hundred and eighty-two dollars and
fifty cents in it. In fourteen pans of dirt from the bottom
of the shaft they took out one thousand five hundred and
sixty-five dollars. March 2 Otli, Clarence Berry took out over
three hundred dollars to the pan, James MacLanie over two
hundred dollars, and Frank Phiscater over one hundred and
thirty dollars. There were four men Avorking one claim
which began to yield about one hundred and twenty-five dol-
lars to the pan. Then we began to hear of big pans from
the shafts which had reached bed-rock all along the creeks,
and one-hundred and two-hundred-dollar pans became com-
mon in April. On April 13th Berry took out a pan of thirty-
nine ounces — four hundred and ninety-five dollars — and
in two days took out one thousand two hundred dollars by
his tests. On the 20th it was reported that some miners
working a lay on ISTo. 30 Eldorado had found a pan contain-
ing eight hundred dollars.

When some of these men reckoned up the value of the
dirt they had been dumping out, they had bright dreams of
wealth. The method of computing the value of a dump is
very simple. The miners' assays consist of panning out a
number of pans of gravel at stated intervals dnring his shift.
An average of the whole is easily arrived at: the bucket in

3'^0 THE BEWILDERMENT OF SUDDEN WEALTH

his shaft contains so many joans, and the wortli of a bucket
becomes a simple matter of eakndation. Each shift keeps
tally of the number of buckets thrown upon the dump, and
the daily average value, and after one, two, or even six
months' work at drifting an apparently accurate conclusion
of the amount of gold in sight can be reached.

Of course, pans varied in such placers, and the lucky
owners scarcely dared to reckon into the average yielded by
the large pans which they washed for testing, but the value
of claims jumped immensely and speculation was rife. Old
miners who had turned up their noses at the Klondike at
first, and had afterwards come back and spent the winter in
looking for more creeks, saw at once the value of the new
claims and calculated what they could pay for them. They
offered large sums for some of the claims after seeing the
tests and inspecting the dumps, and a number of the tender-
feet, dazed by the sight of such sudden riches thrust in their
faces, sold out. They thought a bird in hand Avas worth
two in the bush, but they did not understand so well as the
old miners what was in the bush. When a mine was
bought, the season's work, that is, the dumps, went with it,
and the old miner calculated that he could clean out of the
sluice boxes, when they could be started, enough to pay
the large sums they had offered. Of course, they had to run
in debt heavily for a time, and it was something of a gamble,
for the dumps might not pan out as well as anticipated, and
the rate of interest was high — generally five per cent, a
month.

It was not an easy or inexpensive matter to arrange the
sluice boxes for the spring work. The sawmill at Dawson
had been kept busy beyond its capacity in providing for the
growth of the place, and many cotdd not secure the neces-

ONE OF THE REMARKABLE CASES 321

sary lumber for the construction of their sluice boxes with-
out paying an enormous sum, while if they whip-sawed it on
claims it would cost about three hundred dollars a thousand,
figuring in the cost of labor and the logs. But when
sluicing once began people who had debts quickly paid them
ofi:', and those who had lived from hand to mouth all their
lives suddenly had all their old baking-powder cans and old
jars and kettles in their camp full of gold dust.

There were plenty of cases bordering on the romantic
in that lonely valley then. One of the most conspicuous
was that of Clarence J. Berry. Not very successful as the
owner of a fruit farm in Fresno, Cal., he determined to try
his luck on the Yukon. He reached Juneau with only
sixty dollars in his pocket, but made his way undaunted
over the Chilkoot Pass, and finally down to Circle City,
where all the excitement then was. He lived along as best
he could, and looked about for a location, but without much
success. In the fall of 1895 he returned to California al-
most as poor as he had started. But he had faith in the
richness of the country. In February he married ]\Iiss
Fthel Bush of Selma, Cal., it being understood that they
were to make a venture into the Great Northwest to carve
out their fortunes. They had the usual run of hardships in
making their way to the Yukon. Stopping at Forty Mile,
Berry found absolutely nothing to do for a long time, but
finally secured a chance on a claim and made a little gold,
but scarcely enough to keep him going. Wlien the news
of the strike on Bonanza Creek reached Forty Mile, Berry
was one of the bluest of the blue, and had scarcely enough
ambition left to go with the rush. But liis wife prevailed
upon him to go, and he struck it rich within a short time.
He was soon able to build a comfortabh' home for bis wife at

322 WASHING OUT WAGES

Dawson, hut slie remained miieli of the time at the mines,
where she poked around the dumps, and, during the time she
was there, picked up about ten thousand dollars' worth of
nuggets.

In a few months Berry took out one hundred and thirty
thousand dollars, from which he paid twenty-two thousand
dollars to miners. He paid the experienced men fifteen
dollars a day and settled with them every evening by wash-
ing out a few panfuls of dirt with melted snow. Three
men, named Flack, Sloan, and Wilkinson, worked a claim
on Eldorado, and when they had sunk a shaft eighteen feet
Sloan and AVilkinson sold out their interests for fifty thou-
sand dollars each, but Flack refused to sell. He preferred
to take his chances with the bird in the bush. The three
owners when they came to clean up the dump obtained over
fifty thousand dollars each out of the dirt thrown out before
the pay-streak was reached. A miner by the name of Alex.
]\IacDonald took out ninety-four thousand dollars from a
forty-foot patch of ground only tw^o feet thick. He em-
jiloyed four men to do the work and consumed but twenty-
eight days. His claim was ISTo. 30 Eldorado.

There was one man wdio a year before had been a coun-
try schoolteacher in Wisconsin. In the spring of 1896 he
started on a pleasure trip to Juneau. His funds gave out
and he was compelled to go to work, but later on he joined
a party of tenderfeet and started up the Stikine Eiver for
Lake Teslin. Before the lake was reached eleven of the
party gave up in disgust, and the schoolmaster and one
other were left alone with less than a year's provisions.
They pushed on to the lake, built a raft, and started do^vn
the river. Along in October they came floating down to
the mouth of the Klondike, as green a pair as ever found

SOME OF THE FORTUNATE ONES 323

their way into the country. They heard about the dis-
covery, but found all the good claims staked. Finally, they
secured a chance to work a claim on shares, which gave
them each one-fourth interest in the claim. They took out
eighty thousand dollars in thirty days from one claim on El-
dorado, and twenty-two thousand dollars in twenty days
from another, and by the time they washed out their dumps
they were interested in a half dozen other claims of value.
The schoolmaster calculated that he was worth at least three
hundred thousand dollars, and that his chances were good
for a million by the time his interests were worked out.

Something like a realization of the force and complete-
ness of the awakening may be had from a simple observa-
tion of the experience of a Seattle boy who had amved at
the Klondike too late to stake a claim, but still while the
majority had little faith in the permanent value of the
new discovery. He found a fellow who was willing to sell
his Eldorado claim for eighty-five dollars, and he pur-
chased it, but was unable to work it. In April, or in less
than four months after his purchase, not having put a pick
into the dirt of the claim, he sold it for thirty-one thousand
dollars in Canadian money, which in dust at seventeen dol-
lars an ounce would be equivalent to about thirty-five thou-
sand dollars. There were many similar cases Avhere claims
were sold in Xovcmber for as many dollars as they were
valued in thousands in the spring.

Sometime in the winter a Frencli Canadian, while in-
toxicated, sold his claim on Eldorado for five hundred dol-
lars. When ho became sober he regretted exceedingly
what he had done. Some of his friends told In'm that a
contract made with a man when intoxicated would not hold,
and he threatened proceedings to have it declared void.

3-24 "THERE ARE LOTS MORE"

The fact was that all the })arties were more or less intoxi-
cated when the sale was made. It was one of those saloon
incidents qnite common when the tired and lonesome miners
meet at Dawson to break the hard monotony of their
lives. Rather than hazard a lawsuit, the purchaser of the
claim offered to the French Canadian what was, in effect,
about one-tenth of the original claim, to surrender all right
and title, real or imaginary, that he might have. It was
about the middle of March when he accepted this settle-
ment, and in April he sold his interest in this small part of
the claim for fifteen thousand dollars, and went home to
spend it.

Frank Dinsmore, a poor prospector, in 1896 took out of
a claim on Bonanza Creek ninety pounds of gold in a single
day, netting him twenty-four thousand four hundred and
eighty dollars. A man working on Alec McDonald's El-
dorado claim shoveled in twenty thousand dollars in twelve
hours. McDonald is a great big, raw-boned, rough, good-
hearted working man. One day he paid over to the Alaska
Trading and Transportation Company at Dawson one hun-
dred and fifty thousand dollars in one payment. Among
the mass of gold was twelve thousand dollars in nuggets in
a granite bowl. They weighed about forty-five pounds.
Alice Henderson, a newspaper correspondent, happened to
be present at the time the payment was made. Alec turned
to her and said, in an off-hand way:

" Help yourself to the nuggets. Take some of the
bigger ones."

She hesitated, and he said: " Oh, they are nothing to
me. Take as many as you please. There are lots more."

She finally took a nugget which represented about two
hundred dollars in gold. Frank Phiscator was another pros-

THE SCRATCHING OF THE PAY-STREAK 325

pector from Michigan. In the fall of 1896 he was a pauper
prospector. In the spring of 1897 he was a millionaire.

One June day, when the dumps had been pretty well
washed out, the Canadian surveyor went up to Eldorado
Creek to gain an idea of the output of the twenty-four
claims that had been at all worked there. He calculated
that at the rate of seventeen dollars an ounce it aggregated
about eight hundred and twenty-six thousand dollars, and
this was the result of little more than a scratching of the
pay-streak of the claims. One claim on the creek had been
sold in April for forty-five thousand dollars, and five thou-
sand dollars had been paid down. The other provisions of
the sale were that fifteen thousand dollars should be paid on
May 15th, or about a month after the sale, the purchaser, if
failing to make the payment, forfeiting the claim, and the
balance to be paid by July 1st, failing which the claim
and all money paid should be forfeited. This was con-
sidered by some a very hazardous deal. It required im-
mense faith in the dirt; but the purchaser seemed to know
his business, and^when the papers were completed he said
he never felt surer of a homestake in his life, although he
had been mining for over twenty years. After the pur-
chase, as sluicing could not yet be done, he set to work
with two rockers, and made his payment on May 11th, or
four days before it was due, and the balance was ready about
the 20th of June. The claim had been sold for an amount
which was practically equivalent to but two months' work-
ing of a space about twenty-four feet square, and with a
rocker at that.

If Bonanza Creek did not develop such remarkable re-
sults at first it was still rich past the comprehension of the
owners. About the middle of April, George Cormack,

326 THE STARTLING QUOTIENT

acting for Tagisli Charlie, his associate, sold one-half of
(Maim Xo. 2 helow for live thonsand dollars, five hundred
dollars down, and the balance to be paid by July 1, or
forfeit the mone}' and the claim. On July 1, while pass-
ing the claim, the Canadian surveyor witnessed the pay-
ment of the four thousand five hundred dollars by the pur-
chaser, and when the business was completed he asked him
how he had succeeded.

" Oh," he said, " pretty well."

" Have you any objections to telling me what you have
done? "

" Xo," he replied. " I drifted about twenty-four feet
long by fourteen feet wide, and cleaned up eight thousand
dollars."

-' I know the area of your claim," said the surveyor,
" and assuming that your claim is all equally rich, we will
see how much you will take out of it."

Some of these miners were not good at figures, and
more of them had been too busy and excited taking out the
gold to drop into mathematical calculations. But it was a
simple problem. Given the length and width of the claim,
the product gave the area in square feet. Dividing this by
the result of multiplying 24 by 14, and multiplying the
quotient by eight thousand dollars, would give the value of
the dirt in the whole claim. The surveyor went through
the process.

" It's two million four hundred thousand dollars," he
said.

" Mv God! " said the man, " what will I do with all that

? "

money

" Oh, I wouldn't worry," said the surveyor, " for you
arc not likely to be troubled to that extent. It is hardly

•'ENOUGH TO KILL YOU " 327

possible that your claim will average anything like that in
richness. But assuming that it will average one-quarter as
rich, you will still have six hundred thousand dollars. Or,
assuming that there is a narrow strip in your claim only
fourteen feet wide which you have just happened to strike
on, and that it continues through the length of your claim,
which is two hundred and fifty feet, you will still have
eighty-three thousand dollars, which is enough to kill you."

CHAPTER XXIII

STORIES OF GREAT HARDSHIPS AND SCANTY REWARDS

— A ROMANCE OF THE KLONDIKE — CLAIM JUMPERS —
AN OLD SLAVE'S LUCKY STRIKE.

Gold by the Ton — The Unfortunate Ones — Alaska Mining a Lottery

— Deceptive Placers — Wearj' Men Who Show No Nuggets — Ex-
perience of an Old Scotchman — Mining for Forty-Two Years —
A " Homestake " at Last — Poor Luck Still Followed Him —
Others Less Fortunate — Feeling of the Old Miners When They
Saw the Tenderfeet Taking Out Gold — A Little too Much —
Hardships of a Miner — His First Good Luck — Neal Mc Arthur
and His Narrow Escapes — Scarcely Making a Living — Catching
at a Straw — Hard Conditions of a Prospector's Life — Troubles
after Gold is Found — The Massachusetts Man and His " Boy " —
Threatened by Claim-Jumpers — The Old Man Shot — The Boy
Handles the Gun and Turns Out to Be a Pretty Girl — A Heroic
Act — Queer People — An Old Slave from down in Georgia — His
Lucky Strike.

IT is impossible to adequately describe the effect upon
Dawson of these revelations of the rich character of
the mines which came when the sluices were cleaned
up in the months of May and June. Gold was brought
in from the creeks by the ton, and, as one man expressed it,
was " stacked up by the cord "' with the trading companies
for safe keeping. ]\[en who had stumbled over the rough
trail in September, poor and disheartened, disgusted with
their condition and sick of the country, came down in the
spring as milliouaires and threw their gold dust about like
so much grass seed. But it must not be thought be-

(328)

GOLD MINING A LOTTERY 329

cause so mucli gold dust was in evidence that every one
was rich. The fortunate ones always become famous, but
little is heard of those who work as hard and gain but little.

These Alaskan and Northwest Territory gold fields con-
stitute as odd a prize drawing proposition as ever was con-
ceived of. It can be likened to nothing that admits of a
better comparison than a lottery. Old miners have looked
along the creeks for years, and their practiced eyes have
detected colors in many places. Selecting spots, they have
worked, sometimes half frozen, oftener half starved. The
season has closed, the water has run, and it has been found,
time and time again, that expenses have barely been paid.
Only a little distance away men rushed in, staked oft" any
part of a creek's bed they could get, and took sacks of gold
from the most uninviting bit of earth any one ever saw.
The lucky one did not strike the pocket because of his
ability as a miner. Chance favored him, that was all. In
nineteen cases out of twenty the miners had missed it and
waited another year for a new trial. Finally came the
Klondike.

The placers are the most deceiving I have ever seen.
Imagine a man working on good " color " and finding the
ground worth only a few dollars per day, and then turning
to a waste of mud and moss with no surface indications and
unearthing a bonanza! This seems to be the situation all
over Alaska. The man who goes there to mine does so at
the expense of health and happiness, and it is with him a
question of making a fortune quickly, or taking chances
with death.

About Dawson were scores of men who could weigh
their gold by the bucketful and who valued their claims at
millions. Four hundred valuable diggings were stretched
20

;330 THE HOMESTAKE

along the creeks, and every digging was a fabulous mine of
gold. Yet there were weary men who had come to Daw-
son after searching the country throughout, and never a
nugget could they show for their toil and their long tramp
over broken ground into a country whose natural disad-
vantages are exceeded by those of no other place on earth.

One old miner there was, a Glasgow Scotchman, noted
for his steady, upright, moral life. He was sixty -four years
old.

'' How" long have you been mining? " he was asked, one
day.

" Forty-two years," he replied.

"AVhere?"^

" Everyw^here in North America wdiere mining has been
done."

" And you never made a homestake? "

" I never made more than a living, and very often a
scant one at that," he replied, somewdiat mournfully.

The miners of the Yukon speak of a " homestake,"
meaning the accumulation of enough gold to enable them
to return to '^ God's country," as they call the United
States, and live the rest of their days comfortably. This
old Scotchman had been searching through the Y'ukon val-
ley for ten years and had at last come to look forward to the
possibility of dying and being buried there. He had
thought — and it must have been a bitter thought, too —
that in his last days he might have to be assisted by his
friends as he had often helped others.

But he was at last fortunate enough to locate a good
claim in the Klondike district with another old Scotchman
who had had a similar experience. They could not afford
to w^ork it much, but when March came and the prices of

fortune's tardy favors 331

mines rose to such fabulous figures, they sokl out for twenty
thousand dollars — ten thousand dollars each, after over
forty years of hardships, much of the time cut off from all
associations, and deprived of home and family life, and the
pleasures of existence amid civilized surroundings.

But even this tardy favor from fortune carried with it
an element of that poor luck which had followed them for so
many years. Had they waited twenty days longer they
could have sold their claim for forty thousand dollars just as
easily as they had sold it for half that sum. Still, they were
glad to acquire even their little fortune, and they embraced
the first o]iportunity to leave the country and return to a
civilized land to end their days. They had at last made
their homestake.

Others were far from being as fortunate as that. There
were men who had been knocking around the mountains
for years, and who came too late to secure claims, working
about Dawson for anything they could get, and though they
make good wages in such a booming place, it was little more
than enough to keep soul and body together at the prices
they were compelled to pay for the stalest kind of pro-
visions.

Scores of practiced miners came into the camps that first
winter who could not even secure a lay on any of the rich
placers. They were glad to have the opportunity io work
for some of the lucky tonderfeet who had stumbled into the
golden valley. Their feelings during that long winter, as,
exposed to the fierce blasts of Arctic weather, they toiled in
the frozen shafts or turned tlie crude windlasses, and know
that the lucky fellow whose claim they were working was
enabled to pay them by washing out every evening a
few buckets of the rich earth they were thawing, may be

332 THE HARDEST EXPERIENCE OF HIS LIFE

imagined. Tlicy had searched, some of them for years,
along the Yukon for such places as this, and when it was
found they could get only fifteen dollars a day while a lucky
tenderfoot was taking out thousands.

But they did not grumble at fate. None knew so well
as they that mining is a gamble anyway, and those who had
had the good fortune to find the prize were entitled to it. It
was a little too much for their hardened resignation to this
blind fate, however, when they were asked to work for less
than fifteen dollars a day in the new placers. To be sure,
they had often worked in diggings where they had earned
more than their employers, but when these tenderfeet, who
needed the experienced men to work their rich properties,
asked them to labor for less than fifteen dollars in dirt that
frequently ran over a hundred dollars to the pan, it was a
little too much. The diificulty was finally adjusted so that
the experienced miners received the high rate of wages
while the inexperienced received about ten dollars a day.

I knew one young man who had been a sailor and had
roughed it in about every way possible, finally bringing up
on the Yukon, where, he said, he had the hardest experience
he had ever met in his life.

" I've known what it is to go hungry for a month at a
time," he said, as he was taking the steamboat to go home
for a visit, having made a little money for the first time
since he came into the valley. " I know what the chance
for getting rich in this country is," he continued, " and
although I have got enough at last to enable me to go home
for a little visit after all these years, I wouldn't again go
through what I have endured here for the best mine in the
Klondike. Two years ago T landed at Forty YFile with my
partner, and we worked hard and often went terriblv

A GENEROUS PIONEER 333

luingry. When we heard of the strike on Bonanza, I
wanted to go, but in the eight months we had been working
we had taken out not more than thirty dollars of clean
money. Ill luck seemed to follow us wherever we went.
Finally we got up to Dawson and were fortunate enough to
secure a lay on an Eldorado claim. After working a
wliile my partner became disgusted and left, for none of the
big strikes had been made then. It was the hardest mining
we had ever struck. After a time we found some good in-
dications, and by the end of the season we were able to take
out enough so that I had six thousand dollars for my share.
That is the first piece of good luck I have had in my two
years in Alaska, and it does not begin to pay me for what I
have suffered."

Jack McQuesten, who is called the " father of the coun-
try," has comparatively very little to show for his long life
and many hardships on the Yukon. He has done fairly
well as a trader, and by his generosity has helped many of
the old miners of the country in their desperate straits.
McQuesten went to Dawson, but not till the choice ground
had been taken up. His claim panned out so well, how-
ever, that for the first time in twenty-six years he paid a visit
to the states, carrying with him about ten thousand dollars.
ISTeal McArthur was one of the old miners in the country.
In recounting his experiences to a party of friends, he said:

" I have been mining for more than thirty years, but
not until I struck Alaska over nine years ago did I begin to
know what suffering was. It would be impossible for me
to tell all I have gone through and the many times that
death has been near me. I recall one instance that may
serve to illustrate what the people are to expect if tliey rush
unprepared into the Yukon country. It was in the fall of

334 A TERRIBLE JOURNEY

1881. Winter had eomc on earlier than nsiial, and, in con-
sequence, only a few boats were able to reach tlie points
along the river. In the dead of winter our provisions gave
out, and it seemed as though we must all die. Finally it was
agreed that we must go to St. Michael, one thousand seven
hundred miles away, if we hoped to escape with our lives.
I cannot begin to recount the horrors of that journey. It
was bitter cold, and to make matters worse we did not have
the proper clothing. We were weeks in reaching our
destination, and we were more dead than alive when we
got there. I have worked all through the diggings of
Alaska, but I hardly made a living. Some seasons we took
out next to nothing, and then next year we would strike a
pocket caiTying enough gold to keep us going for a time.
Last fall, when the news reached us of the strike on the
Klondike, all who could packed up their effects and hastened
to the new fields. It was like a drowning man catching at a
straw. We were ready to do anything that promised a re-
turn. I was fortunate enough to locate a good claim and
came away with enough to last me the rest my days.

" There are men in this country who are poor, and who
will remain so. It has not been their ' luck,' as they call it,
to strike it rich, but I may say that the country offers to
men of great fortitude, steadiness, and some intelligence an
opportunity to make more money in a given time tiian they
could possibly make anywhere else. You have, of course,
a good deal to contend with; your patience will be sorely
tried, for the conditions are so unique that they have sur-
prised many who have gone in hopefully and have left in
disgust. There are many obstacles and disagreeable con-
ditions in prospecting."

Troubles are not certain to cease when gold in rich quan-

UNSCRUPULOUS CLAIM JUMPERS 335

titles is found and all tliat remains is to get it out. In
Alaska and the Northwest Territory now, as has generally
been the case in valuable gold regions, there are men who
are desperate and unscrupulous, and who, under some pre-
text, may seek to deprive a weak man of his rights. In the
rush and excitement attending the development of the
Klondike district such cases were too commonly overlooked,
even by the justice-loving miners who were too hard at work
and too busy to mind the troubles of others. There was
some genuine heroism displayed in defending claims. ^^-^

Along in April there came into one of the camp^ it.
elderly man accompanied by a boy, as we thought, about
fifteen years old. We thought him one of the nicest boys
we ever saw. He and his father staked out a claim on one
of the new streams. The old man said he came from Mas-
sachusetts. He was a quiet, peaceable man, minded his own
business and paid no attention to anybody. But a few days
after he commenced work on his claim it got around that he
had struck three-dollar dirt.

Some of the mean characters knocking about the place
thought they might run the old fellow off his claim. So
one night two or three of them went to the tent, shoved their
guns in the faces of the man and his boy, and told them if
they didn't get off that claim within twenty-four hours they
would be shot. The old man said nothing to them, so one of
them owned up afterward, but just lay there, and the boy
kept quiet, too.

The old man, whose name was Henry AYilliams, talked
it over with his boy, and between them they agreed that they
would stick it out. So they took turns lying awake and
watching for the claim-jumpers. Three or four nights
aftorAvards the jumpers came. The boy was asleep and the

330 A girl's heroism

old man was on watch. Before the old man knew what had
happened they had shot him in the shoulder. The boy
heard the shot, and out he jumped with a gun in each hand,
dropped two of the fellows, and wounded another. The
fourth man ran away without firing a shot. Then the boy
fixed the old man up a little and came down into the town
and told what had happened.

The men assembled right away and went out to the old
man's camp and brought him back to town, fixed him up
+lie best they could, and found that he was not very badly
.:.~T After they had found this out and told the boy that
his father was all right, he dropped to the floor as if he was
shot. They picked him up and laid him in a bunk.

And then they found out that he wasn't a boy at all, but
a girl, and a pretty girl, too.

As I heard the story, the man had been veiw unfortunate
in the East, and determined to go to Alaska. His wife was
dead, and he had only one child, this girl, and did not know
what to do with her. But she was determined to come with
him as a boy, and she made her father agree to it. There
was nothing in Dawson too good for them after that, and
that girl could have married any unmarried man in town
had she chosen to, and there was some talk of her doing so.
There are plenty of opportunities for such romances in the
Klondike.

And many queer people were to be found. It seemed
as if nearly every nation of the earth was represented and
everybody was as good as everybody else. It made no dif-
ference as to color, or pre^^ious condition. There was one
old fellow who had once been a slave, and his wool was as
gray as a sheep's pelt. He had come into the Yukon valley
with a freighting outfit and had no idea of trying for gold.

A QUEER OLD DARKEY 337

But when he reached the neighborhood of Dawson, old as
he was, he contracted the fever and staked out a claim.

" You know that old black fellow down the creek," said
Joe one day when he had returned from witnessing some of
the spring sluicing.

" Yes," I said. " What about him ? "

" Well, you may believe it or not, but the old rascal has
cleaned up thirty thousand dollars in gold dust. You ought
to hear him talk about what he is going to do with it. His
name, he says, is St. John Atherton, and he comes from
down in Georgia, ' just a piece out of Atlanta.' The daugh-
ter of the man who owned him during the war is living there
yet, he says, on the old plantation, but very poor. The old
fellow says he is going back to buy that plantation, and then
he is going to have that woman do nothing but live like a
lady all the rest of her days. I believe he means just what
he says. He's a queer old darky, but he seems to have a
s'ood heart."

CHAPTER XXIV

INCIDENTS OF THE TRAIL — DEATH AND BURIAL OF A
BABY — A WOMAN'S THRILLING EXPERIENCES.

News of the Outside World — When the Ice Goes Out of the River —
It "Marks Time" — An Unpleasant Sight for a Hungry ]\[an —
Grub at Last — Happy Incident of a Yukon Honeymoon — Mrs.
McKay's Story — Death of a Baby — The Little Casket and the
Grave by Lake Lindeman — Misfortunes of John Matthews — His
Troubles Over — Impression of the Trail — Strong Men Dismayed
at the Outlook — Trying to Look Cheerful — Learning of the
Klondike Discoveries — Taken for a Man — Over the Summit —
Ravenous Appetites of the Men — Through the Canon and the
Rapids — A Woman's Experience — Clinging to the Boat in Terror
— In the Presence of Death — Quick Decisions of Gold-Seekers —
Many Unfit for Work in Alaska — The Situation Facing the Ten-
derfoot — AVhere Shall He Find Gold? — "Did You Take This
for a Picnic ? "

ONE of the blessings of the influx of people during
the summer and fall of 1897 lay in the opportu-
nity it afforded us of learning what was transpir-
ing in the outside world. Up to the first of July we knew
just as much about cuiTent events in the United States as
the people of the United States knew about the Klondike.
There were a few stories which leaked through, nobody
knew how. One does not need to go far away from the
river to acquire a full measure of that bliss which comes
from ignorance. I have heard of a cultivated German, a
scientific hermit who has long lived among a colony of In-

(338)

WHEN THE ICE MOVES OUT 339

dians in the northern part of Alaska, who did not hear of
the Franco-Prussian war until three years ago. It is not
strange. It is the best country in the world for a hermit
to whom seclusion is the principal thing in life.

It is a great event on the Yukon when the ice really be-
gins to go out. It means that in a few days a little steamer
will come puffing up the river. The old " Yukoner," as a
usual thing, does not await this event with any impatience
for the news of the outside world, but with an eagerness for
something to eat. By the first of June he has ceased to look
forward with delight to the day when he shall roll in wealth,
and has begun to anticipate with mingled emotions the time
when he can get a square meal. Having secured that he
can afford to be social to new arrivals.

But the ice in the Yukon generally has an exasperating
way of moving out. As the river rises some six hundred
miles south of the Arctic Circle and flows northwest till it
meets that frigid geographical device, and as the mouth of
the river usually remains frozen till the first of June or
later, the ice in the upper part does little for a month but
" mark time." This it does by breaking into cakes which,
on acooimt of the dam of solid ice below, slide one over the
other, and the force of the swift current and ice above
finally results in such pressure that the cakes stand up al-
most perpendicularly, sometmies ten feet high. The great
mass will move along gradually, like people coming out of a
crowded theater, and like them will finally get out — all
except a few straggling cakes which for some reason were
belated. This glacial aspect of the river makes a very
pretty sight, but it would be pleasanter to watch when less
hungry. The people on the river generally rush to the
banks when they hear that the ice has ceased marking time

340 BRIDAL CONGRATULATIONS

and is really going, and they will stand for hours and watch
it, though I know in my case the thought uppermost in mind
was something more than that of the piece of moose ham
which tasted as if it might have been cured during the late
War of the Rebellion.

" Grub " came at last. AVe rarely spoke of edibles or
provisions on the Yukon. It was grub. Being an essential
of which we often stand in dire need, a short, crisp, forceful
word was required — something which could be pronounced
quickly even if the thing itself came slowly and in small
lots. Dawson gave itself up to square meals for a time,
though the gold excitement was at its height, and soon it
began to be visited by new arrivals from over the pass.
There were some old acquaintances, of course. Some of the
first were those who had been on the Yukon, but had gone
out for the winter, and there were some peculiar and in-
teresting incidents, of course, following such a rich season.

James McNamee and Charles M. Lamb had been part-
ners in Alaskan prospecting operations. They had ex-
plored several creeks in the far north, but fortune had not
smiled upon them, and in the summer of 1896 Lamb decided
to return to California and get married. He did so, return-
ing with his wife the next June. When he and his bride
stepped from their little boat at Dawson, he was greeted by
his partner:

" Lamb, you're worth a fortune. Up in the cabin is
thirty-seven thousand dollars, which represents your in-
terest in the amount of money that we have taken out of the
claims since you went after a ^\^fe."

It was a very happy incident of a honevmoon in the
Yukon,

Of course there were alwavs interesting stories of ex-

A LITTLE GRAVE BY THE WAYSIDE 341

periences on the trail to be told by the newcomers. Among
those who arrived about the first of July was Mr. McKay,
one of Alaska's pioneer traders, and his wife. She said it
was the grandest trip she had ever made in her life. Still it
had its sad incidents. One morning about the first of June,
while she was at Lake Lindeman, a Mr. Card, who, with his
wife and child, was making the trip in, and camping at that
place, came to her t-ent and said that their boy was dead.
They were young people and this was their first child, a
baby of seven months.

" V\^e all showed our sympathy," said Mrs. McKay, " by
helping all we could in their distress. AVe made a little
casket of rough wood, padded it with a soft blanket, and
covered it with some black cloth, lining it with white muslin.
I laid the baby in it, and then went to one of my trunks, and
from my best hat took some French "sdolets, which I ar-
ranged about the baby, putting some in his little clasped
hand. AVe put up a small tent near the bereaved parents,
and there the body lay till the next day, when we buried it.
The little grave was made by tender hands, and a wooden
tablet at the head tells the traveler who lies there. We also
built a little picket fence to protect the resting-place, and
every one who goes over the trail will see it marking the
close of a brief career."

This gives a little glimpse of the incidents of that hard
trail amid the most wonderful scenery in America, and is a
suggestion of what may happen — of what disheartening
events did happen when the great rush of two months later
was inaugurated.

On June 13th, at Lake Bennett, there was another sad
occurrence. A man named John ^Fatthews, who, with his
father, had packed his outfit over the mountain passes, ex-

342 A TRAGEDY OF THE TRAIL

perieneing all the slavish drudgery of the task, had at last
reached the lakes, lie could see the watery way to the goal
stretched out before him. The sun was shining. It
seemed that all the hardships had been endured, and that
the latter part of the journey would be easy, floating down
the river, turbulent in places, of course, but the water was
to be his servant. He built his boat, loaded it with his out-
fit, and started. All went well till the boat struck the whirl
of the rapids and was swamped. His outfit was at the bot-
tom of the river as ours had been. Where the accident oc-
cured, however, the water was shallow and they managed to
recover most of the goods, though nearly all of them were
spoiled. Matthews and his father went into their tent and
were cleaning up their guns. While the latter's back was
turned a shot was heard. Blue smoke came curling from
the tent flaps, and the distressed father saw his son lying on
the gTOund, his head torn by the accidental discharge of his
gun. His troubles were over. A meeting was called and
the poor boy was buried there amid the silent and dreary
hills.

A woman who arrived early in the summer with her
husband and her son told an interesting story of her ex-
periences and impressions, and it gives a true picture of
some of the trials of the trail, even before the great rush.

" Our troubles began," she said, " when we reached
Dyea. The air rang with noise and confusion. There was
no wharf there. The steamship lay at anchor two miles
from shore — that is, from low-water mark. Beyond this
point up to dry land there was a sea of mud — a dismal
stretch of mud flats wide away. Everything had to be
taken ashore in small boats and landed in the mud or on the
rocks. They had to take out freight as fast as it was landed

A DEPRESSING OUTLOOK 345

from tlie boats and carry it above high tide. Seventy-five
or one hundred men were ashore engaged in this kind of
work. There were a lot of lazy fellows among them, men
who wouldn't work, who were born tired, and what on earth
they ever came up there for, where there is nothing but the
hardest kind of work to do, I can't imagine. I don't know
how they ever expect to reach the Yukon, or what they ex-
pect to do when they get here. The horses and cows had to
swim ashore. It seemed cruel to plunge them into the icy
water and compel them to swim such a distance.

"How dismal appeared the outlook! Our sun'ound-
ings seemed to mirror our feelings. The wild coast scenery
presented no trace of beauty. The dreary ocean, the awful
mountains piled on mountains, the rock-ribbed shores with
their mantle of snow and ice, and the dismal mud flats, all
conspired to make us feel blue. If I had been faint-
hearted, I should have felt like giving up then and there.
Strong men were dismayed at the outlook. Many gave up,
sold their outfits, and went back. One steerage passenger
offered his outfit for his passage back. Such pigeon-hearted
men — men who haven't the courage to say boo to a goose
— are not cut out for miners. But I just thought to my-
self, ' I will never say die.'

" Such a time as we had unloading our goods! A part
were put on the tide flats, and the rest on the rocks, nearly
five miles from shore. Some of our packages were washed
off the rocks. Some people lost a lot of things. One man
had two thousand gallons of whisky aboard the ship. He
found many of the kegs floating on the water, also a lot of
cigars. We had to go on shore before they were through
unloading. The goods were not checked off, as they should
have been, but were throAvn out of the boats into the mud

346 TRYING TO BE CHEERFUL

and on tlio rocks in ntter confusion. The men had to work
two nights and two days to segregate their freight and to
save it from being washed away by the tide. We lost a
sack of hardware, three sacks of feed for the horses, and
several bales of hay. We also lost one hundred pounds of
bacon. However, we fared better than we expected.

" I felt pretty blue, though I tried to look cheerful. I
could never have imagined a country to be so desolate,
cheerless, and dismal. Xature, sad, melancholy, and woful,
seemed even to have stamped her seal upon the Indians and
their dogs, which latter, as an accompaniment to the death
song of the winds, were incessantly howling. And such
lugubrious howls I never heard before. But it just made
my heart ache to see how cnielly they were treated. Men
seemed to become heartless up there. The environment,
perhaps, makes them so.

" Well, we started out in a snow storm, but under foot it
was nothing but slush and water and bare ground. We did
not arrive a day too soon. We were afraid the summit
would be bad, although on account of the elevation the snow
might be harder. I felt quite at home in our cosy little
tent, and baked bread and cookies in our little sheet-iron
' Yukon stove ' for the first time. It was a perfect little
jew^el. I kept a pot of baked pork and beans on hand all the
time, but for the first two days ashore all we had was tea,
bacon, and biscuits. We would not have had even that
limited fare had I not taken it from home.

" ' Homesick any yet? ' asked my husband one evening.

" ' Xot I,' I replied, but I had a hard struggle.

" We had not gone far before we met some people com-
ing out and received the first news of the Klondike. Then
we were elated beyond measure over the prospect. Every

AN EMBARRASSED PILGRIM 347

Liirden seemed lighter now; every hardship less severe.
Hope lightened np the gloom of our surroundings and
thrilled every nerve with joy. Nothing fatigued us, noth-
ing tired us then. I really felt very glad we had come, and
the tent even became quite pleasant.

"There were five women on the trail going over to the
Yukon, including myself. We all wore men's suits. You
ought to have seen us. One day I was working at the stove
when two men came to the entrance of the tent. One man
said, ' Mister, can you give me a drink of water? ' I said,
' Yes, sir,' and handed him a dipper of water. While I was
getting the water the other man made a remark to him not
audible to me. When he took the water he seemed so dis-
concerted that I could not refrain from laughing, and he
said, ' Excuse me. Madam, I thought you were a man.' I
wore a man's mackinaw suit and cap. We had a lot of fun.
They all told me that I looked fine in my man's suit. I
felt like a fish out of water when I first put it on, but soon I
grew accustomed to it and I liked it better than our regular
costume. It seemed so funny when I went down hill or
through wet places, I would instinctively reach around to
hold up my skirts. Then how they laughed.

" I got along very nicely, and was all the time very busy,
and industry, you know, always begets happiness. So I
was both busy and happy. One day I lined the horse
blankets, and every day and every hour and every minute
there was a plenty to do, and how the time flew !

" When we started to move through the canon I made
up my mind to walk, and did for a short distance, but my
husband insisted on my riding, so they fixed a place for me
on top of several bales of hay on the sled my son was draw-
ing. I did not want to ride on his sled as he was always
21

348 INCIDENTS AND ACCIDENTS

letting' it tij^ over, but my liusband said he would be more
careful if he had me for a passenger. We had two other
sleds heavily loaded, and my husband had to stay behind and
watch to keep them from capsizing. We had proceeded
about four miles when over went the sled, but I jumped off
in time, and was not even frightened. Afterward several
bales more of hay were added to the load, and we started off
with myself perched on top. Presently over it went. My
son was admiring the grand mountain scenery at the mo-
ment and paying little attention to his sled. I uttered a
scream and tumbled over backward, turning a complete
somersault. I was so frightened that I had a terrible head-
ache the rest of the day.

'" We worked along and finally pitched our tent at Camp
Pleasant, with tall cliffs on either side of us lifting their
awful forms skyward until they reached the very clouds.
The awful, solemn grandeur of that mighty mountain fast-
ness beggars description. The trail to the summit led up
the eaiion directly in front of our tent. The snow had be-
come so soft that w^e could not use the horses beyond this
point, and we had to haul our goods by hand. We had five
men helping us. Until then the horses had been of great
assistance. There were tents in every direction about us
and no conventionality. Anybody was. as good as anybody
else. Everybody spoke to everybody and got acquainted.

" At last we got over that terrible summit, but it was
not half so bad as I expected to find it. It took me about an
hour to climb to the top. I had two staffs to assist me in
climbing. The day was so beautiful and the scenery so
sublimely grand that I really enjoyed the adventure much.
The weather was good all the time, in fact. Then we went
into camp to build our boat. I was so glad to take up my

IN A CHRONIC STATE OF HUNGER 349

abode at one place, if only for a little while. This thing of
packing- up and lueving every few days was something ter-
rible. 1 was sick for nearly two weeks, but managed to do
the cooking for the men.

" Cook? I had to cook all the time. I never saw men
eat so. They would come in wet through and as hungry as
bears. They would want something to eat every time they
came into the tent. The night we camped I promised the
boys some pancakes for supper, and they ate so many it kept
me frying for a long time. I made some syrup of sugar. I
don't make them often. I cooked some evaporated onions,
and they were very nice. We had very good soup also. I
made it from beef extract and put in some evaporated vege-
tables and a little bread.

'' The day we came over from Lindeman, I walked from
the mouth of the caiion. They call it nine miles. My! I
Avas tired, and I was very lame for several days. It was the
first time I had walked so far. They always insisted on my
riding; but we had sold the horses and I had to walk. I did
not want to sell the horses to the man who bought them.
This man had worked one span of horses to death. I told
him he could not have our poor horses to kill by overwork.
He just laughed. While he was at the tent he heard me
say I wished that we had some tomatoes, and, notwithstand-
ing the fact that I had talked so harshly to him, he sent me
two cans.

" Oh ! yes, those turbulent waters terrified and appalled
me. I rode through all those awful torrents that the men
did, and we went through all the rapids excepting White
ITorse. Everybody made a portage there. My husband
said these rapids were much worse than last year, and he
deemed it unsafe to go through. The day we crossed Lake

350 PERILS OF THE CANON

Bennett the wind h\c\v very liard, and the hike was exceed-
ingly rough. How the ^n-eat waves roL-ed and tossed our
boat about like a feather, Though it contained six tons of
freight besides ourselves ! You can imagine bow terrified I
was. From Lake Bennett we entered Three Mile Kiver.
We had no sooner entered it than our boat got stuck on a
sand bar. The men had to get into the cold, icy water,
waist deep, to get the boat oif. We got stuck on sand bars
several times after that. One time we were delayed for
three hours.

" Lake Lebarge was terribly rough, and we ' were ex-
ceeding tossed with a tempest ' for fifteen long miles. I
cried nearly all the way. Finally we reached the canon —
that terrible, awful, appalling cafion, a roaring, seething
mass of water rushing from both sides and forming a cone
in the center. Nearly every one landed above it and looked
it over, but we went right through. We got about half way
through when a big swell struck the boat, causing the right
oarsman to fall just as my husband called for a stroke on
that side. The result was that the boat struck the rocks,
turned around, and went backward. In trying to turn the
boat my husband's oar broke like a pipe stem, and they had
to jerk one of the oars out and give it to him. When the
boat swung around I surely thought my time had come. I
did not scream nor utter an audible sound. They say I
clasped my hands together and did bravely. For the mo-
ment I was overcome Avith terror and palsied with fright. I
hope I may never experience such feelings of horror again.
I felt as if I were in the presence of death, and my thoughts
traveled fast. There were dozens of people up on the cliff
looking down on us, but no one could have saved us had the
boat swamped. We were just three minutes going through.

'•HERE FOR THE DUST" 351

The distance is three-quarters of a mile. It seemed an age
to me. One corner of the boat struck against the wall of
rock and was smashed in. The boat was soon repaired and
we proceeded on our journey.

" The next bad place was Five-Finger Rapids. We
went through to the right, through a passage among the
rocks, not much wider than our boat. This is another roar-
ing, seething torrent of water. I w^^s again terribly fright-
ened. Just below Five Fingers is the Rink Rapids. Here
we had to keep to the right shore, a wall of rock, just as close
as we could to avoid the great boulders over which the water
madly plunges in a white, seething foam. The men had to
bend to the oars, and they had all they could do to keep our
craft off the rocks. Oh, how the water roared! Do you
wonder that I was frightened? Thank heaven, it is all
over! I would not take the trip again for all the gold in
Alaska. But now we're here I'm going to make some gold
dust, if I have to run a bakery."

Two things strongly impressed the observer of those
who flocked in during the summer rush. First the sudden-
ness with which the decisions to seek fortunes in the gold
fields had been made. Hardly a man had decided to come
a week before he started, and a number decided, made their
preparations, and left all, inside of twenty-four hours, to
come to a country where a man must carry with him what
he wants for a year. Second, the exceedingly small num-
ber of miners there were among them. There were a few,
but they could be counted on the fingers, and the rest of
them had never even seen a gold pan, much less wielded
a pick in the diggings. It was a green crowd, but then, in
the Klondike, the tenderfoot flourishesand often makes the
strike the practical miner misses. All, to a man, were hope-

353 CONFRONTED BY DIFFICULTIES

fill, and not. one seemed to regret tlie step, tliongh as the
sitnation gradnally dawned upon them,*tlieir pensive faces
beean to tell of the subduino; character of their thonchts.

O ?V O

Many were unfit for the work of mining as it has been
conducted in Alaska, and a still larger number had no idea
of what was required.

The tenderfoot found himself in a city of log houses
and tents, facing a situation something like this : He could
live at a tavern for about twelve dollars per day or build
himself a log house. As, perhaps, he never drove a nail in
his life, he had to hire carpenters at fifteen dollars a day,
and, as they were not in the country for their health, they
made a long job of it unless others are waiting. Finally,
with pockets sadly depleted, he moved in.

When this innocent gold-hunter looked about him he
found that the only way to get a claim on the Ivlondike was
to buy it, and by that time the cheapest one cost perhaps
fifty thousand dollars. He might have five hundred dol-
lars left, perhaps but one hundred dollars, possibly little or
nothing. The plentiful gold he had been hearing about,
if above ground at all, belonged to some one else and was
guarded. If he wanted nuggets he must find them for him-
self. Where? The old settler would point vaguely to the
frozen hills and say :

" Go along and find a creek. Everything is taken up
for fifty miles around, but you may get something further
away. ' What shall j-^ou do when you f^nd it? ' First, pay
the government location tax. Then just move a hundred
tons of ice to one side. Below that you will find some-
thing like twenty feet of frozen mud. Just thaw it and toss
it out. Xear bed-rock you will see gravel. Perhaps there
will be gold in it, and perhaps not. That's a chance you

SOME OF THE FROZEN FACTS 353

take. Just pile the gravel up and in the spring you can
wash it out. You can't do so before, because all the water
will be ice. ' What if there is no gold in it, or not enough
to pay? ' Oh, then you won't be any worse off than hun-
dreds of others. You can hire out to other people, perhaps,
and work around till another freeze comes, which won't be
very long. What's that? You say your provisions won't
outlast another winter? Why, man! why didn't you bring
more, then? Did you take this for a picnic? These are
the frozen facts, young man, about gold-hunting here. If
they are not sufficiently frozen, you will be if you disregard
them when the mercury gets well on the downward path to
sixty degrees below."

It is easy to see wdiat a deplorable condition a man is in
when he faces the necessity of work like this with an in-
sufficient supply of provisions. A mine-owner, no matter
how rich he may be in gold, has no food except such as he
has laid aside for himself, if he has had the foresight or the
fortune to do so, and only those men can be of use to him
wdio have the provisions. To endure work of this kind suc-
cessfully, one needs plenty of substantial food.

CHAPTER XXV

THE OPPORTUNITIES FOR MONEY-MAKING IN ALASKA —
THE COSTLY EXPERIENCE OF TWO TENDERFEET —
APPALLING PRICE OF A SUPPER — A HORSE MISSING
WITH $49,000 IN GOLD.

A City Laid out on a Bog — Natural Floral Displays — Lousetown —
A Cold Place in Winter — Fabulous Rise in the Price of Building
Lots — Expense of Log Cabins — Making jNIoney Quickly — Expe-
rience of a Cigar Drummer — Clearing 820,000 in Twenty Days in
Real Estate Options — Better than Mining — Spring Water at Twen-
ty-five cents a Pail — Money Brought in by New Comers — Bonanza
Kings and Millionaires — Alec McDonald and His Investments —
"Satin Bags," the Italian Bonanza King — Indulging in a Square
Meal at a Dawson Restaurant — " Your Bill is $53 " — How it was
Itemized — Pack Horses with Gold Dust — One of the Horses
Missing — An Exciting Mystery — A Vision of Highway Robbers —
The Lost Horse Returns Safely — Just Stopped to Graze — Found
Dead with |30,000 — The Strain of Too Hard Work.

DAAVSOX is laid out with the most approved mathe-
matical precision on a bog. It is rectangular in
shape, the streets are sixty-five feet wide, and, in
summer, about a foot deep in mud. At the bottom is the
everlasting frost, hard as adamant. As people who have
become accustomed to the countrv are used to wading, little
thought is given to this inconvenience, and the summer sea-
son, if unpleasant underfoot, has some delights, at least,
overhead and about the hills. The flowers carpet the hill-
sides, run riot in the valleys, and everwhere clothe the
countrv in glowing beauty. The soft purple haze as seen

( 354 )

DAWSON AND ITS SUBURBS 355

from Dawson on the neighboring hills seems almost like a
mist, but it is only an embankment of wild heliotrope.
Wild roses, beautiful and fragrant, wild poppies, and scores
of delicate small blossoms vary the color. In winter the
streets are more agreeable in their mantle of snow, which
covers everything. But the hills are dreary then, very
dreary.

Dawson is situated on the northeast side of the Yukon,
forty miles in a direct line from the Alaska boundary, and
twice that distance from Avliere the river crosses the line.
The Klondike lliver comes down on the east side and cuts
the town site in two. That portion of the town on the
south side of where the Klondike joins the Yukon is called
'' Lousetow^n," and, in fact, was the original site used in
years past as an available camping point, and occasionally
roving bands of Indians stopped there. At present, a store
and two or three saloons comprise the business portion of
the place. Some forty or fifty tents house two hundred or
three hundred people, and the mountain trail to the mines
leads past this place. The ground is much higher and dryer
than on the north side, but owing to the proximity of the
mountain the site is not large enough for much of a town.

On the north side of Dawson proper the mountains open
out and curve around a low marshy piece of land of about
one hundred acres. There is hardly a spot on the town site
where the moss and earth cannot be cleared away to a depth
of twelve or fifteen inches and a cake of frozen ground or ice
be found. There would seem to be no question as to the
locality being unhealthy and sid)ject to malarial ailments.
In other than warm months a strong wind usually blows up
the Yukon from the north, except Avhen the weather is
colder than fifty degrees below zero, and then a dead calm

356 MONOPOLY OF THE WATER SUPPLY

usually ])i'cvails. Dawson is situated on a bend of the river
so as to receive the full benefit of the chilling blasts. Back
on the gulches where the mines are located, the weather is
considerably more moderate and there is less wind. The
Yukon in front of Dawson is one-third of a mile wide and
the addition of the Klondike waters forms a large eddy
directly in front of the town, and into it the drainage and
sewage of the city empties. Consequently, the water is im-
pregnated with foreign elements and has occasioned much
sickness to those using it. At the lower end of the town
near the foot of the mountain is a fine spring of good water
which an enterprising man has monopolized, and water-
carriers earn as high as forty dollars a day in carrying water.
A charge of twenty-five cents a bucket is generally exacted.

As the demand for building lots grew and the evidences
of the unsanitary condition of the soil became more appa-
rent, people began to pitch their tents and to build cabins
on the hillside. Such locations are some distance away
from the business center, but none too far for such as desire
to live quietly. The view from these hill residences, over-
looking Dawson and the river, is fine and in time it will be-
come, doubtless, a coveted residential quarter.

September 1, 1896, Dawson City consisted of two log
cabins, one small warehouse, a sawmill, and a few tents, mtli
a population of about twenty-five men and one woman.
Joe Ladue, the founder, was then selling his best lots at from
five dollars to twenty dollars each, and the prices were con-
sidered none too low. These same lots in July, 1897, were
selling at from eight hundred dollars to eight thousand dol-
lars each, and with every prospect of going still higher.

In July, Dawson's population had growm to five thousand,
and every day people were pouring in. Log cabins, sixteen

A BORN BUSINESS MAN 357

by eighteen feet, were renting from forty dollars to seventy-
five dollars per month, and few were to be had at these
prices. On every hand cabins and tents were being set up.
It cost a small fortune to build cabins at Dawson, One of
average size costs in the neighborhood of one thousand dol-
lars. Building timber is scarce in the neighborhood of the
town, logs l)eing brought down the Yukon from ten to
fifteen miles.

Never before, I believe, was there such a place to make
money quickly as in Dawson in 1897; those who took for-
tune at its tide saw the money fairly roll up in their hands.
Naturally, there were the usual number who seemed to fail
to seize the right opportunity, and so worked along making
but little. But the opportunities were there for those who
had the business shrewdness to see them. A single example
will illustrate. Early in the spring a cigar agent or drum-
mer from Harrisburg, Pa., found himself at Dyea when the
first news of the Klondike came over the passes. He quit
his job, sent word to his firm that he was going to the Klon-
dike, took what cigars he had, and set out; arrived before
the great influx began, and quickly sold his ten-cent cigars
for one dollar and fifty cents each. He was only twenty-
two years of age, but a born business man ; he was all busi-
ness. He paid no attention to the mines ; indeed, he said he
didn't care whether he ever saw one or not. There was
money to be made easier right in Dawson. The speculation
in town lots was daily becoming livelier, and he knew that
it would be livelier still when the people began to arrive, so
he took written sixty-day options on a dozen lots, paid five
hundred dollars down, and in less than twenty days sold out
and made twenty thousand dollars cash.

" That's better than thawing out frozen muck for gold,"

358 ENTERPRISE AND FORESIGHT

he said. " These mines in Dawson can be worked winter
and summer."

Then he took options on more lots at greatly advanced
prices, for by that time we had heard at Dawson of the ex-
citement in the States over the new discovery, and we knew
that soon an army of gold-seekers woidd be pouring in.
When the people came, he made several thousands more.
But his business activity was by no means confined to this
form of speculation. Observing the poor quality and taste
of the water from the Yukon, he preempted the springs
back on the hill for a comparatively small sum, and soon
had a lot of Indians peddling this at twenty-five cents a pail.
He hired a few women and went into the bread business.

Money, that is, gold dust, was flying about in all direc-
tions, and he just put his business instincts to work to catch
what he could of it. By the end of the year he had two
hundred pounds of gold ready for shipment to the States
when the river opened, and altogether he was probably
w^orth one hundred thousand dollars, all made in six months
without going near a gold mine. He had every prospect of
doubling it in the next six months, for in the summer season
there will be no limit to the demand for his spring water at
twenty-five cents a pail. He had a fund of Irish wit and
was very popular. The last I heard he Avas proposing to
open a bank, and the chances were that he would in tw^o
years have more gold than two-thirds of those toiling in the
rich pockets far away on the creeks.

Enterprising men who started business ventures of this
kind naturally stood in the way to secure not simply some of
the gold that came out of the mines, but much of the money
which was brought in by newcomers. The latter fund was
greater than one might suppose. Wliile some came in with

SOME BONANZA KINGS 359

little money, the majority had realized the advantages of
bringing all they could, and it seems safe to say that at least
two millions were brought in during 1897. Much of this
went for town lots and cabins. Those who brought in large
supplies of provisions were tempted by the fancy prices they
commanded to sell out all they could afford to, sometimes
making enough to enable them to secure valuable claims or
interests.

Naturally, the wonderful riches developed in the
spring's clean-up resulted in a sudden creation of bonanza
kings and millionaires who threw their dust around with
lavish hands. Alex. McDonald was conceded to be the
richest, at least in claims. Before the summer was over he
owmed interests in twenty-eight claims, and he kept buying
as fast as he could take the money out of the ground to pa}'
for them ; indeed, faster.

" I have invested my whole fortune," he said, " and
have run in debt one hundred and fifty thousand dollars
besides, but I can dig out the one hundred and fifty thou-
sand dollars any time I need it."

From his general appearance and demeanor one would
not suppose that he had owned mines which had made him
rich beyond the dreams of avarice, and all in a single year.
He is a quiet, unassuming man, and takes his good fortune
philosophically. He walks about in his rough miner's
clothes, and is cordial, in his way, to everybody, for no one
is better than anybody else in Dawson. Lippy and Berry
were reckoned as second and third in riches, but when
strikes were being made every day there was always an un-
certainty as to who could really count up the most wealth.
An Italian named Antonia, owning some claims on El-
dorado, gave many evidences of being one of the most con-

360 AN EXPENSIVE SUPPER

spicuoiis bonanza kings. It was said that lie had given a
written agreement to pay his housekeeper five hundred dol-
lars a week, and he actually '' cleaned the town " out of silks
and satins, so that he obtained the local soubriquet of '" Satin
Bags." But he could evidently afford to indulge his tastes,
for all he had to do was to dig up the gold when he wanted it.

Tastes were, however, a very expensive thing to in-
dulge in Dawson, and some of the newcomers were sIoav
in appreciating it. The little experience of two young men
from the Pacific coast will illustrate the difficulty which
some had in accommodating themselves at once to the con-
dition of affairs. They arrived one evening after a rather
quick and fortunate voyage down the river. Congratu-
lating themselves on their good luck and having tired of
camp cooking, one proposed going to the restaurant and
having a good supper. The proposition was accepted, and,
entering the first restaurant which had white tablecloths
and napkins, they ordered a full course and a small bottle
of wine. The menu consisted of eastern oysters, roast duck,
moose steaks, and the usual assortment of side dishes.
There is no doubt but that they greatly enjoyed the sup-
per, particularly after having lived on bacon, flapjacks, and
black coffee for a month. Arising and going to the coun-
ter, one of them threw do^^Ti a twenty-dollar gold piece, and
taking a toothpick, said :

" Take out for two."

" You'll have to come again," said the proprietor.

"Oh, isn't that enough; well, here's another twenty;
you will have to excuse me, as we've just arrived and are
not yet familiar with frontier prices."

" That's not enough yet, my friend. Your bill is fifty-
two dollars."

3 ll.

THE MENU 363

" AV-li-a-t, you don't mean to say you're going to charge
us f-i-f-t-y-t-w-o d-o-l-l-a-r-s for our supper^ Why, in Ta-
coma it woukhi't cost over seven or eight dollars."

"Yes, but you're not in Tacoma, and besides, fifty-two
dollars is what it'd cost you in any other restaurant in Daw-
son."

" Will you please make out a statement of the expense?"
meekly asked the young gold-hunter, as he and his partner
emptied their purses and between them could only pro-
duce forty-eight dollars and sixty-five cents. The restau-
rant-keeper made out a slip, which read :

1 can Eastern oysters for two, $15.00

1 roast duck for two, ........ 4.00

3 porterhouse moose steaks, 3.00

1 pint bottle of champagne, 30.00

Total, 152.00

Observing the depressed condition of their finances, and
tenderly appreciating their embarrassed condition in the
presence of a dozen miners who were amused at the predica-
ment of the newcomers, the restaurant-keeper said :

" Oh, never mind, boys, that's near enough. Here,
keep this odd change; we've no use for it up here," and he
handed them back one dollar and fifteen cents in dimes and
nickels.

The next morning they were observed in their tent as
they were getting ready for breakfast. The meal consisted
of fried bacon, beans, pancakes, and coffee. Their coun-
tenances bore a serious expression, and after a few pre-
liminary remarks incidental to the character of the country
and chilly condition of the weather, a visitor remarked that
most of the new arrivals preferred to board a few days at the
restaurants after having been subjected to a bacon and black
coffee diet for a month.

3()4 A VALUABLE HORSE MISSING

'* It's different witli iis," said one, with a sickly attempt
to smile and a sly glance at bis conn-ade. " AVe took sup-
per at a restaurant last night and the bill was over fifty dol-
lars, and it broke the two of us to pay it."

The sight of gold dust had become an old story to the
people w^ho had wintered at Dawson, but it w^as a revelation
which nearly drove the new-comers frantic with impatience
to acquire some of their own. jSTearly every day a little
traiii of pack horses would come in from the mines having
on their backs those precious bags w^hich were more of a
load than they seemed.

One day in the early part of September a party with
seven pack lioi^es loaded with gold came into town from El-
dorado. The gold was in sacks of one hundred and fifty
to two hundred pounds, and, of course, the arrival was one
of the events of the day in a far-away shut-off town where
everything of that character is an object of interest. When
the party brought in their horses ready to have the gold
Aveighed, the leaders of the train were struck with surprise
and consternation.

One of the horses was missing !

They had started with eight, and upon investigation
they found that one loaded with one hundred and eighty
pounds of gold, valued at about forty-nine thousand dollars,
was not with the othere. It was a mystery which no one
could explain. ]^o one had seen the animal when it dropped
out. They had worked their way over the rough trail, and
supposed that the horses were keeping in line all the way.
The minutes of consternation grew into hours, and then into
days.

Xo time was lost in getting back over the trail, making
inquiries all along the route if a stray horse with one hun-

RETURN OF THE WANDERER 365

(Ired and ciglitj pounds of gold on his back had been seen.
The hunt lasted all night, and the next day, and the night
following, and no trace of the animal could be found.

The matter ceased to be humorous and assumed a serious
aspect. A vision of highway robbers began to haunt the
honest miners Avho were sending in their gold. The police
were called into requisition, but not the faintest clue could
they get as to the whereabouts of either the animal or the
gold, though the most diligent search was made in all direc-
tions.

The news spread from camp to camp, and the miners
began to be of the opinion that a bold highway robbery had
been committed somehow. The searchers were puzzled be-
cause the animal wore a clear-toned bell which could be
heard for some distance, and, though they strained their
ears to catch the faintest suggestion of the tinkling of that
bell through the wild country of that trail, not a tinkle could
they hear. Horse, bell, and forty-nine thousand dollars of
gold belonging to the Berry brothers seemed to have
dropped completely out of existence.

Towards the end of the second day, when the affair was
assuming an alarming aspect, the lost horse came jogging
along over the top of the mountain and down into town,
jingling the bell as though nothing had happened, and with
the sack of gold still securely strapped on his back !

The horse had strayed from the train during the dark-
ness and had wandered off into a meadow to graze. This
he had done while carrying about his precious burden, and
when content he had slowly made his way towards the
town.

The prevailing ideas as to distance in Alaska and the dif-
ficulties of moving small distances sometimes are vorv in-
22

3G6 A NEW CITY

adequate. For example, some seem to think that a man can
step out of a dance hall or saloon and in a few moments be
on his claim ; or if he is on his claim and wishes to drop into
a store, he can throw down his pick and step over. But
these mines extend for a hundred miles around Dawson in
a region almost inaccessible in places. It costs twenty-five
cents a pound to have things packed from Dawson up to
some of the mines. This makes a sack of flour that cost
twelve dollars at Dawson worth nearer thirty-five dollars at
camps up the stream.

About the first thing the new arrivals of the summer
and fall did was to start for " the gulch," a term which was
used to designate the diggings on Bonanza and Eldorado
creeks and their tributaries. Whether they were ex-
perienced miners or not they generally had their eyes
opened to the resources of the creeks and to the curious
mode of mining. By that time the gulch was almost a city
in itself, there being more people there than in Dawson, and
the center of the population and the meeting-place was at
the junction of Eldorado and Bonanza. Here, gradually,
a new city, with all its accessories, was springing up, which
threatened to rival Dawson itself. It was the center of in-
dustrial activity, and it tended to keep the miners away
from Dawson. The miners gave it the name of Eldorado
City.

Both Protestants and Catholics early established mission
churches at Dawson and did good work under the greatest
difiiculties. Rev. Y. C. Gambell and wife started the first
church, the Presbyterian mission, but they had many dis-
couragements. They rented the first floor of a log cabin
and held Sunday services there which were fairly well at-
tended, though some of your city ministers would have

SICKNESS AND DEATH 367

winced at the surroundings. The top floor of the building-
was used as a lodging house, and the missionaries had hardly
become settled when a drunken lodger upstairs overturned
a candle and the building was burned to the ground.
Nothing was saved, and tlie outfits of ten men were de-
stroyed. Fire from a similar cause broke out on Thanks-
giving evening and destroyed the opera house and two
saloons. Only the snow on the roofs saved the rest of the
buildings on the street.

The sanitary condition of the place was better than could
have been expected from its situation. Many of the in-
stances of sickness and death were more or less traceable to
carelessness, neglect, overwork, and excitement, the re-
laxation of the mental and physical strain being too much
for some to endure. Some men had lived on barely noth-
ing, and that half-cooked. The excitement of washing and
accumulating the gold was so great that many men devoted
their entire time to it when they should have devoted some
to cooking, cleanliness, and rest. One man, after he had
washed out thirty thousand dollars of gold, began to have
the idea that he was going to be robbed. The mental strain
was too great for him, for he was found one morning dead
in his tent with his thirty thousand dollars under his head.

In the early fall symptoms of typhoid began to manifest
themselves and there were several cases in the hospital.
There had been a continual dread of this disease on account
of the filthy condition of the streets of the town, but during
the summer the general health appeared to be good. It
takes a little time, however, for the germs to work in the
system, and in the fall months those who had become en-
feebled by hardships or improper food began to show the
effects.

3()8 THE GROWTH OF DAWSON

Two brothers, Robert and Charles Carlson, rich owners
of claims on Bonanza Creek, succumbed to the disease jja
July. They had just sold their claims for fifty thousand
dollars and were preparing to leave the country for the win-
ter, when they were stricken down. They had been amono-
the fortunate ones who arrived early when Bonanza was dis-
covered. They worked hard during the winter to prepare
for the spring sluicing. Success attended their efforts, but,
weakened by them, they fell an easy prey.

Dawson has been growing right along during the past
winter. An occasional dip of the mercury to forty-five
degrees or fifty degrees below zero has had no effect on the
building operations there. All winter long Front street —
practically the only one in Dawson — has resounded
with the sound of chopping and hammering on new houses
and stores. Some of the more recent building improve-
ments of the town comprise about one hundred and fifteen
log cabins, three log churches — Catholic, Episcopal, and
Methodist — and six hundred tents, that had been boarded
up about the bottom to make them more agreeable to the
occupants. The business part of the town consists of log
and rough pine board buildings arranged in a straight line
and close beside one another. In these structures are fifteen
saloons, two barber shops, several butcher shops, and half a
dozen restaurants, two real estate offices, and one hardware
store.

The largest buildings in that region arc two substantial
storehouses built by the Alaska Commercial Company and
the iSTorth American Transportation Company. Each is
two stories high, and covers about eight thousand square
feet. To show how^ it costs to build up there, I have only
to say that one of these storehouses, with a good concrete

HIGH PRICES 369

foundation, cost exactly ninety-three thousand five hundred
dollars in September, 1897. The same structure could be
built in the Middle States for about four thousand dollars,
and on the Pacific coast for four thousand five hundred dol-
lars. Log cabins twenty by twenty-four feet now cost from
three thousand dollars to four thousand five hundred dol-
lars. The logs are hewn on three sides and the chinks are
plugged with mud and moss. The roofs are constructed of
three layers of pine boards, upon which moss and earth are
packed to the depth of a foot.

Some of the recent quotations at Dawson will give a fair
idea of the ratio of demand to supply : Pine logs, two dol-
lars and fifty cents and three dollars each; window glass,
fifty cents a pound; tenpenny nails, sixty cents a pound;
meat, seventy-five cents a pound. Carpenters who can do
fairly good work get eighteen to twenty dollars a day; com-
mon laborers get three-quarters of an ounce of gold a day —
about twelve dollars.

CHAPTER XXVI

DAWSON AND ITS INIQUITIES — GAMBLING PLACES,
THEIR DEVICES AND THEIR WAYS — NIGHT SCENES
IN THE DANCE HALLS— REAL LIFE IN NEW MINING
CAJVIPS.

Saloons and Gambling the Natural Products of New Mining Camps —
Strange Sights and Sounds — Gold Dust as Free as Water — Sa
loons and Their "Brace Games" — Who Pay the Fiddlers — Ex-
pensive Society — " Stud-Horse Poker" and High Stakes —Meth-
ods at the Faro Table — Gold Bags in Pigeon Holes — Settling Up —
"Shorty's" Fatal Forgetfulness — Few Instances of Shooting
Now — Ruling Prices in Saloons — The "Rake Off" — When
"Swiftwater Bill" Breaks Loose — Losing $7,500 in an Hour —
Appearance of Gambling Places — The Dance Halls and the
Women — Gallant Partners in Spiked Boots — An Occasional Free
Fight — Tobacco-Laden Atmosphere — Tired and Dishevelled
Women — More Orderly than Mining Camps in the Rockies —
Not a Hard, Reckless, Wide-Open Town — Harvard, Yale, and
Vassar Graduates.

IX the matter of iniqiuty, siicli as prevails in musliroom
towns in mining districts, Dawson was not slow in
eclipsing all rivals on tlie Yukon.' Xever before had
such a crowd of people pounnl into the Yukon valley, and a
rough floating element, which had quicklv pcrcei-^'ed the
possibilities of operation in a place over which evervbody on
the Pacific coast was going wild, were soon plying their oc-
cupations in the city. Still, there were no scenes of dis-
order, or what are reckoned as such in a place like this.
Saloons and gambling were the natural products of such

(370)

A LIVELY TOWN 371

a population in a far away mining camp, and no mining
camp was ever so far away as these on the Yukon. Circle
City bad emptied itself, and so had Forty Mile. In those
once thriving places the saloons were deserted and the dance
halls silent.

Early in the first season, or soon after the discovery,
one of the Circle City dance hall proprietors had come up
the river, got together enough logs for the sides and ends of
a house, put a tent roof over it, and then on one of the boats
came the first piano in Dawson and a lot of girls. A dance
house was in immediate operation. Others followed
quickly, and in the summer of 1897 it was the liveliest town
imaginable, a city of many strange sights and sounds.
With the sound of the hammer and the axe mingled the
howling of the dogs, the squeaking of the violin, the jingling
notes of the piano, and the harsh voice of the prompter —
*' balance all," " ladies' change," " swing yer pards." Dur-
ing the summer, when it was light all the time, tlic public
resorts were wide open every hour in the day. The saloons
never closed, and gambling went on without cessation.

Many queer incidents occurred, showing how cheaply
the gold dust was esteemed by some of the miners. One
l)oy, who had been working hard all day on his claim, said,
when he had finished :

'' Now, I'll just pan out one pan for the boys."

As a result he came to town, entered one of the saloons,
treated everybody there several times, lost thirteen dollars
at faro, and still had thirty dollars left.

Every saloon was, of course, provided with a number of
gambling devices, and it was perfectly natural to suppose
that they were of that character called " brace games," that
is, so arranged as to make it extremely difficult for an out-

372 THE gambler's harvest

sider to win a dollar. Even faro boxes and cases worked
double, and tlie dealer generally knew what to do when it
was necessary to make a certain card win. He who sat
down to a promiscuous poker table was either reckless or
ignorant. Of course, these things were intended to catch
the tenderfoot, or the old miner who had come in from a
season of hardship and had consoled himself with about the
worst stuff that ever went by the name of whisky. The pro-
fessional gamblers reaped the harvest, and the tenderfeet
and the hardworking miners paid the fiddlers. But gold
was cheap. Miners did not hesitate a minute to drop it for
a little fun. And they seldom grumbled at the cost.

It was difficult for an economical man to get around " in
society " for less than fifty dollars a day. I heard of people
who spent five hundred dollars a day just in killing time
while waiting for the steamer to go out with their gold.
The games were exceedingly stiff, and it was not an uncom-
mon thing to see a miner throw down his sack and bet from
a hundred up on the highest card. " Stud-horse poker "
was the popular game, and it would often cost from fifty
dollars up to draw a card.

A gambler, winning or losing from five hundred dollars
to three thousand dollars at a single sitting, was not worthy
of passing comment. In fact, games involving five thou-
sand dollars or ten thousand dollars were running night and
day. Professional dealers of " banking games " received
twenty dollars a day.

The manner of hazarding money is unique even in a
mining camp. The player takes his seat at a faro table,
passes over his sack of gold dust to the dealer, who drops it
into a small pigeon-hole. The chance of " overplaying his
sack " devolves upon the player's honor. He is given full

A TRAGEDY OF THE GAMBLING DEN 373

credit and can call for as many chips from the check rack
as he desires. As the checks are passed out a tab is dropped
on his sack. At the conclusion of the play the chips on
hand are credited to the account of the sack. The dealer
hands the player a slip of paper showing the condition of the
account, and the latter takes it and his sack of gold to the
bar. If he has lost he weighs out his gold dust, or, in the
event of winning, the barkeeper does the paying. At first
glance it would seem that such a system would afford con-
siderable temptation for dishonest men to walk out with
their sack of gold without settling their accounts. Only
one or two instances of the kind liaA^e occurred and the con-
demnation of the community has inflicted such punishment
as to warrant the non-repetition of the offence.

About four o'clock one morning a miner known as
'^ Shorty " left his seat at the table where he had been play-
ing all niglit, saying that he had gone broke. The dealer
handed him his bag of dust and his slips, the latter cor-
responding almost to a grain with the value of the gold.
" Shorty " walked over to the bar and invited a couple of
other miners to have a drink. Then he was seized with a
fatal fit of forgetfulness.

He edged toward the door and was about to push it open
when the bartender called to him: " Say, Shorty, haven't
you forgot something? "

The door swung out. When it rebounded it stopped
half way, and a draught of icy air came in. There had
been a sudden flash of flame, a ringing report in that low-
ceiled, smoke-darkened room, and the door as it swung in-
ward was obstructed by the body of a dying man.
" Shorty " was buried the next day. But this was in the
early days of Dawson. It was not long bc^fore it l)ecame an

374 SETTLING ACCOUNTS WITH GOLD DUST

offense to carry firearms about and a better order was en-
forced. Dawson, for sucli a lively and mixed settlement,
has afi'orded few instances of " shooting."

Saloons, of course, were " wide open " and did not pay a
license. As a rule tliey sold a fair class of beverages.
Drinks and cigars retailed, as at Circle City, at fifty cents,
and the two breweries that are located near by could not
supply the demand for beer at one hundred and twenty-five
dollars a keg. A poor quality of champagne was retailed at
thirty dollars a pint, and a better quality at ten dollars
higher. As at Circle City, in liqiTidating indebtedness at
the bar, the individual doing the honors passed his sack
over to the barkeeper, who poured out enough gold dust to
settle the account. It is unnecessary to add that the bar-
keepers were never charged with neglecting to take enough
dust, and particularly when the patrons are somewhat under
the influence of copious libations. Saloon men admitted
privately that the " rake-off," as they term overweighing,
amounts to about thirty or forty cents on each two dollars
and fifty cents spent over the bar. The receipts for sixty
days last smumer in one saloon amounted to one hundred
and twenty-four thousand five hundred dollars, and the day
the successful miners were taking their departure on the first
steamer of the season the receipts amounted to six thousand
five hundred dollars. Hardly a saloon in to^vn was re-
ceiving less than three hundred dollars a day, besides win-
ning large sums of money at the gambling games. Bar-
keepers were paid from twelve dollars and fifty cents to
twenty dollars a day, and even the porters, where such
luxuries were deemed necessary, were paid from seven dol-
lars and fifty cents to ten dollars.

" Swiftwater Bill " owned some of the richest claims on

GAMBLING SALOONS AND DANCE HALLS 375

Eldorado Creek, and when lie broke lo<3se the dust was
sure to lly. Bill took a seat at the faro table one night, and
in just one hour he had lost seven thousand five hundred dol-
lars in gold nuggets,

" Things don't seem to be coming my way to-night," he
remarked as he rose from his seat and stretched himself.
" Let the house have a drink at my expense."

There was a rush for the bar, and waiters carried drinks
to the various tables where games were in progress. That
round cost Bill one hundred and twelve dollars. Then he
lighted a dollar and a half cigar and strolled out.

The gambling saloons, in external appearance, are very
much like all the other buildings in Dawson, except that
they are larger. They are built of logs hewn on three sides
and solidly chinked with heavy moss. The roofs are made
of poles, on which a layer of moss fully ten inches thick is
laid, and then a layer of dirt about twelve inches deep serves
to keep out the cold. Heavy embankments of earth piled
up against the huts on the outside serve as additional pro-
tection against the chilling blasts of the Arctic winter gales.
A few saloons are built of lumber, with double walls,
l)ctween which sawdust and moss are tightly packed, but old
Yukoners are of the opinion that buildings so constructed
are inadequate against the severe cold weather.

Dance halls are constructed in the same manner and are
generally the largest buildings in town, except the store-
houses. They are opened at about seven or eight o'clock in
the evening, and the band plays on till late in the morning.
The amusement continues night after night. The halls are
crowded with gallant beaux, the most of them having heavy
spiked-bottom shoes, broad-brimmed hats, costumed in the
regulation mining suits, and, with cigars between their

376 "SASHAY all!"

teeth, tli(\v present an odd appearance. Tliey sit around
the hall on the benches, smoking and talking and immensely
enjoying the relaxation from the hard monotony of the
mines. Each dance costs one dollar, and I have lie^rd of
one man in three nights spending seven ounces of gold, or
one hundred and nineteen dollars, for the luxury. In some
of the halls a free fight sometimes concludes the festivities
along toward morning. Occasionally, men will come to
blows in attempting to win the hand of some woman for the
succeeding dance. '' Fair play " is the watchword, and the
best skilled pugilistic gladiator goes to the head of the set
and his rival goes home.

Even if one is not a dancer and has rather strict ideas of
what proper female society should be, he will miss a good
deal of fun if, when he goes to town from his dreary camp,
he does not look in and watch the miners enjoying a little
relaxation. One scene is much like another. You enter a
large building with a smooth floor sometimes overlaid with
heavy drill. You could almost cut the tobacco-laden atmos-
phere with a knife. Through the blue haze the figures of a
couple of musicians can be faintly distinguished, fiddling
away for dear life, and calling out, " Sashay all! " " Ladies'
throiigh! " as the occasion demands. They receive twenty
dollars a night or more for doing this, and they earn every
penny of it.

At one side, extending the entire lengi"h of the room,
is the bar, and the three dispensers of drinks are kept quite
as busy as the fiddlers. Beer, whisky, and cigars are retailed
at fifty cents. A poor quality of champagne sells for thirty
dollars a pint, and a somewhat better brand brought forty
dollars.

Of course, the men greatly outnumber the women.

MUCH AMBITION AND LOVE OF ORDER 377

There are probably a dozen of the latter, some of them
young and quite pretty. They have little or no time to rest
between the dances, and when the morning sun peeps over
the eastern mountains he finds them a tired and somewhat
dishevelled lot. But some of the belles of the " dancing-
set " have been known to make as much as a hundred dollars
a night tripping the light fantastic toe for the delight of
miners at once lavish and well-stocked with dust.

But while the money that is spent in saloons and dance
halls, and the money that is lost continually over the various
gambling devices, may seem to be enormous, it must be re-
membered that these hardworking miners in their dreary
camps become at times fairly desperate for a little relaxation
from the severe hardships of their existence. If they are
lucky, gold dust becomes to them a cheap commodity. It
means very little to them when at any time they can dig out
all they want. Making all allowances for men of bad char-
acter, certain to drift into such places, my observations con-
vince me that Dawson is now a less vicious and more orderly
place than the new mining camps of the Rockies were.
The severity of life on the Yukon has kept out many desper-
ate characters, and the Klondike has now been largely filled
up with people who, while they may not have been experts
in mining, have a taste for an orderly life, and are too solici-
tous to make their fortunes and leave the country to squan-
der money recklessly.

The population of Dawson and the camps that line
the creeks that twist away south, east, and southeast from
the Klondike and Yukon is as intelligent as any I have ever
known in any mining camp in the West. Indeed, it is the
most moral and ambitious mining population I have ever
seen. A number of old professional miners are up there,

3?8 NOT THE RESORT OF THE HARD-UP

who liavt' seen the oihled ^ambling palaces of Virginia City,
and have lived in the hot days of Bodie, Tombstone, Ana-
conda, and Creede, and they have remarked many times
that the miners of the Klondike are another race of men
from those they used to know in the States. To be sure,
there is gambling and liberal drinking of the hardest of
hard whisky, but they say the scenes are never comparable
with what they used to witness every night when the
Bonanzas were ponring out their golden wealth and Tomb-
stone was making a dozen new millionaires.

The present Klondike miners are not the typical, pic-
turesque miners the world has been hearing about for half a
century. It is my private opinion that the awful hardships
one endures to get rich up there, the dangers that must be
braved, and the privations suffered in getting to the new
gold fields by any route, make men there sober and provi-
dent. Where men have these characteristics they take
fewer chances in gambling. Then, too, the expense of get-
ting to Klondike and the necessary expenditure of several
hundred dollai-s for an outfit keep out of the Alaskan min-
ing region a horde of hard-up, desperate characters similar
to those that have made all the western mining camps so
notoriously bad. I doubt if Dawson ever will be a hard,
reckless, wide-open to^^^l in the sense that Virginia City
and Cripple Creek have been. It has had during the win-
ter of 1897-98 a population of about two thousand men and
one hundred and twenty women, with about four thousand
five hundred more miners in the cabins along the creeks,
and there have been few more orderly and earnest com-
munities anywhere in the T'nion. I never knew so many
well-educated, thoughtful, and promising men in any camp
as there are at Daw'son to-day. Some are Harvard and

A DAWSON M.D. 381

Yale graduates. Two young women, wives of ambitious
young miners, are from Vassar College, and a physician,
who lives there in a log cabin, plastered with mud, was edu-
cated at Columbia College and at the University of Paris.
I think he is contented. Anyhow, he ought to be for a
year or two. He gets half an ounce of gold for each visit,
and for simple surgical work his bill runs into ounces of
gold very quickly. It seems to me that he ought to clear up
two or three pounds of gold every week in the year.

The wealth is earned by such hard work and exposure
that the better class of miners do not like to throw their
earnings over the bar with the recklessness that charac-
terized the miners in the flash mining days of the West.
Moreover, one may readily see that a climate where the wind
blows and moans twenty hours out of every twenty-four,
and where the mercury fluctuates between two degrees
above zero and forty below for five months in the year, is
not conducive to conviviality and hilarity as the warm,
balmy climate of Tombstone and Virginia City were.

CHAPTEE XXVIl

A REFUGE FOR CRIMINALS — THE MINES MORE PROFITA-
BLE THAN SPORTING DEVICES — PURSUING A FUGI-
TIVE—A CHASE OF 25,000 MILES FOR AN ESCAPED
MURDERER.

Too Many Sports for the Demand — The Arrest of Frank Novak, the
Murderer — History of His Crime — Enticing an Irish Farmer to
His Death — Searching for Novak — The Wrong Man Arrested —
Another Clue — It Takes tlie Detective to Vancouver — Searching
Resorts on the Coast — Every Ship's Crew Questioned — Requisi-
tion on the Governor of Alaska — Gone to the Klondike — Extradi-
tion Papers from Washington — Taken to Ottawa — Over the
Chilkoot in Pursuit — Passing the Fugitive without Suspecting
Him — The Pursued Follows the Pursuer — Arrival at Dawson —
Searching the Camps — Giving it Up — Arrest of the Murderer —
Returning by the Yukon — A Chase of 25,000 Miles.

IT was natural, and to be expected, that tlie Klondike
shonld prove a tempting refuge for those who had
some penalty to escape in the States. It is in the
Xorthwest Territorv, and so criminals escaping from the
officers of the law in the United States must be extradited.
Moreover, it is so far removed that it seems impossible for
the law to reach them after they arrive at Dawson, where
there is no thought gi^'en to the antecedents of the in-
habitants or of those who enter too rapidly to be observed.
Besides all this, Dawson and the mines offer opportunities
for making money which have attracted thousands wdio had
nothing to run from. Many sporting men and gamblers
hastened to the new field, but the supply of gambling de-

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INCENTIVES TO INDUSTRY 383

vices rather exceeded the demand, and in time these men
found more commendable means of earning a livelihood.

The truth is that the richness of the mines has attracted
even men of a sporting turn into paths of industry. Several
well-known Pacific coast sporting men have to a certain ex-
tent abandoned the green cloth and taken up the profession
of mining. Nearly all those who cling to the gambling
profession have acquired claims and have been hiring men
to work them. Frank P. Slavin as a mining man is real-
izing more dollars than he ever did in the prize-ring. He
is one of the best workers in the country, and by hard rust-
ling has acquired interests in twelve or fifteen placer claims
and one quartz lode. A Portland, Ore., sport, who has the
reputation of "^ never having turned a crooked card," has
retired from the green cloth, donned a miner's suit, and
with pick and shovel is digging gold out of claim 62
below on Hunker Creek. Another Seattle sport is now the
owner of four promising claims which are being worked this
winter. There is hardly a sporting man in the Klondike
who does not own valuable mines. Late in the autumn of
1897, between forty and sixty sports arrived without pro-
visions, and they were compelled to pass on do'wn the river
to Fort Yukon to spend the winter.

Those who came to Dawson to escape the penalty of
crime found that they were not entirely safe. One of the
most notable cases occurring in the summer qf 1897 was
that of the arrest of Frank Novak, after a chase which reads
like a romance, full enough of adventure, danger, and hard-
ship to satisfy the most morbid novel reader.

Frank Alfred Novak, familiarly known as Frank Novak
among his acquaintances, was, in 1890, conducting a mer-
cantile and banking business at the little town of Walford,

384 CRIMES OF A SPECULATOR

in Benton county, la. He had for his partners in business
a widowed sister and a brother-in-law, and to the outside
world was apparently doing a prosperous mercantile busi-
ness, besides a sort of accommodation and loan business in
the way of a private bank, wdiere the farmers and residents
of the town did their banking transactions. The apparent
prosperity of the firm was, however, purely superficial, as
Novak had contracted a gambling mania and was qiuetly
but surely robbing the firm of its assets by playing the grain
market in Chicago. In three or four years he had squan-
dered his own substance, and robbed his immediate relatives
and friends of more than twenty thousand dollars, which
had been entrusted to him as business manager in the store
and banker for the village. The day of reckoning was fast
approaching, and Xovak, realizing that the denouement
would blast the confident hopes of those about him, pro-
ceeded to take out thirty thousand dollars of life and acci-
dent insurance, and then deliberately set about to procure a
victim to be used in his own stead as a cremated corpse upon
which his beneficiaries could draw the insurance. He also
had the stock of goods and the store building in which he
was doing business insured for about their full value, and
took into his confidence a near relative, who was designed to
collect the insurance after the disappearance of Trank
Xovak.

A pretext of danger to the stock of goods through ex-
pected burglare or incendiaries was invented, and Xovak
began sleeping in his store, ostensibly to guard against such
calamity. He also began assiduously plying his ac-
quaintances, who chanced to be about the same age, build,
and weight as himself, with invitations to sleep with him in
the store. These invitations, fortunately, were declined

THE PLOT FAILS 385

by each person approached, until the night of February 2,
1807, when a reputable young Irish farmer by the name of
Edward Murray acceded to Novak's solicitations and re-
mained with him in the store up to the hour of retiring.
They were seen together at 11:30 P. M., and at 1:30 A. M.
of February 3d the building was discovered on fire, and was
soon a mass of ruins, with the conviction forced upon every
spectator that Novak and Murray had been consumed in the
conflagration. Upon searching the cooling embers, how-
ever, it was found that only one partly charred corpse was
in the remains of the building, and, while a number of in-
effectual attempts were made by interested parties to estab-
lish the identity of this corpse as that of Frank Novak, the
anatomical differences were so great and the dental dis-
tinctions so peculiar that a coroner's jury found no great
difficulty on considering the evidence laid before them in ar-
riving at a verdict that the remains were those of Edward
Murray, and that no trace of Frank Novak was left in the
building.

Steps were at once taken by the authorities of the State
of Iowa and the county of Benton to search out and ap-
prehend Frank Novak, and other persons took a hand in the
matter, securing Thiol's detective service to prosecute the
search for the murderer. Detective C. C. Perrin was de-
tailed to handle the case. He was peculiarly fitted for it.
Tall, of medium weight, he has the figure and muscles of an
athlete. His square-cut chin and mouth show the grit and
force that finally brought Novak to bay.

A trail was struck, and, although the offense was several
weeks old when the detective started upon the case, Novak
was followed across the country on foot over several coun-
ties in Iowa, and then by conveyance an equal distance,

386 FOLLOWING THE WRONG CLUE

being landed in Iowa City, which was believed to be a
happy rendezvous for him, as he was known to have friends
living at that place. Some time elapsed before any further
clue was obtained to the movements of the murderer, and
he was believed to be in hiding in that city or vicinity until
the description of a man tallying with that of Novak was
picked up from the appearance of a passenger on a train
bound for an eastern port, and, in following up this clue, it
developed that this man was a Bohemian, and as Xovak
was a Bohemian-American, he was believed to be the same
person.

The trail was followed to Baltimore, Md., where ship-
ping agents and others recognized the photograph and de-
scription of Xovak as answering to that of a man who had
arrived at that port and shipped for Bohemia on the 18th of
February. A cablegram was immediately sent to Mr.
Keenan, American consul in Gennany, who had the pas-
senger described apprehended on the arrival of the steamer
HaUe at Bremen on March 1st, and after several days'
cabling and comparisons of descriptions it was decided that a
case of mistaken identity had led to the arrest of the wrong-
man, and this clue had to be dropped.

The detective again returned to Iowa City, and, after a
prolonged search in and about this place, a clue was finally
struck on the 11th day of March in the shape of a descrip-
tion of a passenger who bought a ticket at midnight on Feb-
ruary 3d to Omaha, Xeb., over the Chicago, Rock Island tt
Pacific Railroad. By a diligent inquiry among railway and
sleeping-car employes who had been in charge of the cars
and train on the date named, the representative of Thiel's
service was satisfied that he was on the right track, and im-
mediately went to Omaha, where an active search was taken

THE SEARCH AT PORTLAND 387

up, and by the aid of tlie local police department in the
course of a couple of days the fleeing man's identity was
once more established by description and photograph in the
person of a passenger who bought a ticket over the Union
Pacific system from Omaha to Vancouver, B. C.

The detective was now five weeks behind the fleeing
murderer, but, nothing daunted, took the next train for
Portland, Ore., where a stop was made and search instituted
to see if the ticket had been used through to Vancouver, or
if the passenger had stopped off at Portland, as is frequently
done by persons seeking to get a cut rate to the Pacific coast.
The detective's knowledge of this phase of railroad travel
proved most fortunate, for, after a quiet inquiry at Portland,
running over a couple of days, it was discovered that Novak,
using the name of Frank Alfred on his ticket, had stopped
at Portland and cashed the portion reading to Vancouver
with a broker at the former place.

Being at sea once more as to the probable course taken
by the fugitive, still five weeks ahead of the detective, the
latter began a quiet search of all the hotels, lodging houses,
mercantile establishments, employment agencies, steamship
and railroad ticket offices, and other points where informa-
tion might be obtained touching a transient stranger, and
for a while it looked as though every trace of Novak had
vanished.

Portland and its suburbs were submitted to this exhaus-
tive kind of inquiry for a number of days, without dis-
covering any trace whatever of Novak's presence or move-
ments, and inquiry was finally extended to San Francisco
and other seaport towns on the Pacific coast with a view to
picking up a clue at some remote point, on the belief that
Novak had eluded notice in passing through Portland. All

388 THE FUGITIVE IDENTIFIED

returning steamers from ocean voyages as they landed at
Pacific coast points were met on tlieir arrival, and the several
crews and any returning passengers who had been on the
outgoing trips were carefully questioned touching any one
answering Novak's description having gotten aboard at any
other coast point on any of the recent trips of the steamers
since February 7th, which was the known date of his arrival
at Portland.

On March 31st, at the end of a couple of weeks' search
of this character, the steamer Al-Ki, returning from Sitka,
was met at Seattle, and upon being interrogated all of the
officers and crew and one returning passenger at once recog-
nized Xovak's photograph, and were capable of giving an
accurate description of him in the person of a passenger who
embarked on the Al-Ki at Port Townsend February 23d,
ticketed for Juneau. They also added the inf onnation that
he had been seen in Juneau a week or ten days previous, as-
sociating with a prospector who was going mth other gold-
liunters into the mining district up the Yukon. This in-
formation was promptly wired to headquarters of the Thiel
detective service, where steps were at once taken to procure
requisition papers for ISTovak. By the prompt action of the
State officers, the requisition was at once obtained on the
governor of Alaska for ISTovak, though, as it transpired,
ISTovak had not been indicted in Benton County, Ta,, on the
date previously reported, as the grand jury had been so
pressed with business that it could not take up this ease.

While these proceedings were being had in Iowa, Per-
rin, who Avas following I^ovak, embarked on the first
steamer for Alaska, which proved to be the Al-Ki, leaving
Seattle April 4th, and the requisition papers were forwarded
to him at Juneau by mail from Des Moines, la., on April

ON THE RIGHT TRACK 389

7tli, to reach him by the next steamer sailing for the gold
country.

After the requisition papers on the governor of Alaska
had been procured, it was ascertained that Novak had left
Junean for the gold fields of the Yukon River in Canada,
when it became necessary to procure extradition papers on
the governor of Canada. A detective went to Iowa to
secure the necessary papers; from thence he went to Wash-
ington, D. C, to secure the signature of the President and
Secretary of State to same. He then went to Ottawa, all
of the officials concerned giving the matter the utmost ex-
pedition, so that he was enabled to reach the Pacific coast
on May 20th, three months and a half behind the fugitive
Novak, sailing from Victoria on the steamer Mexico May
24th for Juneau. Here he outfitted for the trip into the
Yukon country, going in by way of the Chilkoot Pass at
Dyea. Another detective was sent to St. Michael, about
three thousand miles away, to watch all steamers arriving
there from the Yukon gold fields, to see that Novak did not
escape on some of the sailing vessels leaving that port for
dificrent parts of the world.

June 8th Perrin left Juneau with a year's outfit for
Dyea, going over the Chilkoot Pass to Lake Lindeman,
where he built a boat.

At the same time Novak and his party were completing
a boat on Lake Bennett, but a few miles further on. They
had taken in a big lot of supplies, and in getting them over
the pass and in making ready for the trip down the river had
consumed over a month of time.

One morning Perrin and his Indian guides set sail in
their boat on their journey. At the same time Novak's
party started on Lake Bennett in a rude scow. Early in

390 EXCHANGING SALUTATIONS

tlic afternoon Perrin saw the scow ahead of liini on Lake
Bennett, and rapidly overhauled it in his light sailboat. He
went within a hnndred feet of the boat and exchanged good-
natured, joking salutations with its occupants as he swept
past, never dreaming that one of the number was the man
he sought.

" That scow^ wasn't built for a racer, was she? " shouted
the detective.

" She's slow, but sure," was the reply.

" "Well, good-bye," said the detective as his boat drew
ahead.

" So long," returned Xovak, " Save a little of the gold
for us."

" Of course."

From there on down the river for a thousand miles into
the diggings the pursuer was followed by the pursued. Per-
rin reached Dawson ten days ahead of his man, and at once
began a sharp search for him, quickly coming to the con-
clusion that he was not in Dawson. Xo one remembered
having seen a man answering the description. Then the
detective went over the trails to the camp and searched in
vain along the creeks. He returned to Dawson very much
puzzled. Finally, he concluded that ISTovak must have gone
up the Stewart River, without coming to Dawson. There
were reports of several miners prospecting on that stream
with good results, and many tenderfeet w^ere making prepa-
rations to go up there. The detective concluded that he
would go, too, and this meant that he would have to winter
there. He was about ready to start when the scow which
he had passed on the way in was pushed up to the beach at
Dawson. Perrin walked over towards the men to exchange
greetings.

RECOGNITION AND ARREST 391

"Jingo! " he exclaimed under bis breath as he came,
closer to the scow. He remembered his photograph and
was pretty snre he had his man, but he talked good-
natnredly with Novak, and then laid the matter before
Captain C. Constantine of the Canadian mounted police.
In a few hours Novak was arrested by Captain Constantine
and turned over to Perrin.

Perrin placed his prisoner in a boat and that night
started down the river during a heavy storm for Fort
Cudahy, where three days later, he took the steamer P. J.
Healey for St. llichael. The two thousand miles down the
river were made in eleven days, and then came a two-weeks
wait for the Portland. From St. Michael to Seattle, and
at all times during the entire trip, a continuous watch was
kept over Novak by Perrin and two assistants. Then he
started east with his man, and when he delivered him
safe in the Iowa jail he had been over six months constantly
on the go, during which time he had traveled nearly twenty-
five thousand miles and endured many of the hardships of
the Yukon.

CHAPTER XXVIII

WOMEN IN THE KLONDIKE — SOIVIE ROMANTIC STORIES —
EXPERIENCE OF A WOMAN ON THE TRAIL — HOW
WOMEN HAVE MADE FORTUNES.

A Little Home Life — Two White Women in Camp the First Winter —
Mrs. Lippy the Pioneer — Mrs. Berry's Story of Her Journey — Be-
ginning to Despair — Starting for the Klondike — A Cabin Unfit to
Live In — Picking Up Nuggets of Gold — Wading in Mud Waist
Deep — Housekeeping No Joke — Arrival of a Plucky Little
Wife — Makes Her Home on a Scow — On Terra Firma at Last —
An Eye to Business — One Hundred Dollars a Month for Caring
for Two Children — In Doubt as to the Day of the Week — Dogs
and ^Mosquitoes, "but the Gold 's all Right " — Romantic Career of
a Woman — Joins the Stampede from Circle City — Cooking
for $15 a Day — Facing Claim-Jumpers — Making $12,000 in a Few
Weeks — Opportunities to Marry Rich Husbands — Gallantry of
the Men — What a Woman Should Wear — A Queer Trousseau.

THERE is a better side to the life in Dawson City and
in the camps along the creeks, such a thing as home
life amid the rough surroundings, and there are
brave women there, women who have shared with their hus-
bands or fathers the hardships of the journey and who pre-
side over their cabins in the town or at the mines with
touches of that womanlv grace and skill all the more notice-
able under such harsh conditions. At first women of this
variety were rare, but after the rush from outside was fairly
imder way there was a marked enlargement in home life,
while many respectable women became engaged in self-

(392)

ONE WOMAN IN THE CAMP 393

supporting pursuits, gTeatly increasing the comforts of tlie
settlement. During the first winter in the camps along
the creeks there were but two white women, and their ex-
periences were certainly romantic.

When Mrs. Lippy arrived at the camp on Eldorado
Creek, there were no other women there except a few
squaws, and these Yukon Indians, male or female, are not
worth counting. Her husband put up the first log cabin
on the creek, and while it was being erected they lived in a
tent. All the furniture they had was made out of boxes
and slabs by Mr. Lippy, and all the food they had at first
was canned. Mrs. Lippy did no mining herself, but at-
tended to the domestic duties, which are certainly arduous
enough in such a place, and she made her husband so com-
fortable and enabled him to rest so thoroughly that he was
enabled to accomplish more than most of the miners during
the cold weather.

After a time Mrs. Berry came into the camp, and Mrs.
Lippy had some association with her own sex. Mrs. Berry's
advent into the Klondike regions was quite romantic, as it
was in the nature of a bridal trip, Mr. Berry having mar-
ried her, as already related, in the spring of 1896, before
setting out for the gold country.

" The journey over the ice and snow is one that I am not
likely to forget," said Mrs. Berry, in telling the story of her
experiences. " The accommodations for a woman were
very poor, the transportation was slow, the dog teams we had
were not accustomed to the climate, and altogether we ap-
peared to be in a bad fix much of the time. . We carried with
ns our stove and tent, and the latter we pitched every night
on seme spot where the snow was hard. Our beds were
made of boughs. My husband was careful to provide every

304 MRS. berry's adventures

comfort possible. Just before leaving Juneau I was given a
largo bear-skin robe, wliicli greatly added to my comfort. 1
rode nearly all the way. During the journey I was strapped
to the sled or boat, as the case might be, and while it was
considerably better than walking, there was always an un-
certainty about my position which made it very uncom-
fortable. At first it was very, very cold, but after that I
became used to it. I want to say just here, that the trip
over the Juneau route, when the lakes and rivers are broken
up and filled with floating ice, is particularly hazardous to
women. They are not nearly so well able as men to stand
the hardships and dangers incident to such a journey. I do
not think I would be willing to make the same trip again,
though if my husband goes back next spring I shall prob-
ably accompany him.

" When we arrived at Forty Mile we found that there
was absolutely nothing to do. ]\Iy husband struck a claim
and made some money in that way, but it was hardly enough
to keep us going. In anticipation of just such luck, how-
ever, we had brought ample supplies with us, and also some
money, and so did not suffer. Just as we were beginning to
despair there came the news of the wonderful find on the
Klondike. I told my husband the best thing we could do
would be to go to that section immediately. He objected
at first, but finally yielded to my persuasion and started for
the diggings. I was left behind, by my own request, to fix
up the camp and to take all the provisions we had to the new
discovery. I cannot begin to tell you of the hardships I
encountered. The river was already beginning to show
signs of floating ice, and I knew it would be only a short time
before it would be completely frozen over. Finally, how-
ever, I got everything in order and started on the Arctic

PICKING UP NUGGETS 395

for the new Eldorado. About half way up I came across
my husband and his party, and they joined me on the
Arctic.

" The roughest experience I had during my entire stay
in Alaska was at the mining camp fifteen miles from Daw-
son City. When, having waded and stumbled over the
trail, I reached the house where I was to spend tlie winter,
I found it utterly unfit for any woman to live in. There
was neither floor nor windows, and Mr. Berry had to cut a
hole in the wall in order to get the stove in. Finally all
of these difficulties were overcome, and I was fairly com-
fortable. It was December 6tli when we struck the first
gold, and it was a happy day for me as well as for my hus-
band, who had worked so hard to gain an independence.
Of course, at the time we did not know just what we were
making, but it was not long before the truth dawned upon
us that we were in a fair way to win a fortune. All last
winter I visited the mines, and, as the great chunks of frozen
earth were dumped on the ground, I busied myself in pick-
ing out the nuggets.

" I think that during the season I picked up something
like ten thousand dollars. I used to turn the clods over, and
then, with a sharp stick, dig into them as far as I could until
I came across something that looked like gold. The largest
nugget I found was worth two hundred and thirty-one dol-
lars, and it turned out to be one of the best individual prizes
found in the diggings. I enjoyed good health in spite of the
hardships, and actually gained twenty-two pounds while in
Alaska. I attribute this to my taking good care of myself,
never unnecessarily exposing myself to the weather, though
I was nearly always around the camp. I liked to be there
because it was lonesome at the cabin, and then again there

30G A HOME ON A SCOW

^vas ahvavs the possibility of finding that which we had come
so far to secure.

" I did not mind the hardships very much. Mr. Berry's
claim was nineteen miles from Dawson, and I walked all the
way over the ice. It took us two days to get there, and I
was nearly dead when we arrived. When we came out it
was spring, and the mud was so deep that I frequently went
in to my waist, and over my knees at every step. I wore
rubber boots and short skirts all the time I was there. In
the winter I wore short skirts, bloomers, fur-lined moc-
casins to the knee, a fur coat, hood, and mittens. I kept
house, aud I tell you it's no joke."

After a housewife has gone over the Chilkoot Pass and
has shot the rapids, it may be declared a certainty that she
is made of sterling material, and it was indeed interesting to
watch the women who were among the new arrivals and to
hear them tell of their experiences. One July day a man
and his wife came drifting down the river in a scow and
landed at Dawson. She was a small body, but there was a
fire in her black eyes that showed grit and determination,
and it was pleasing to notice how quickly she accommodated
herself to circumstances. Lots were then selling at enor-
mous prices back in the swamp on which Dawson is located,
and she told her husband they couldn't afford to pay those
prices yet for such ground.

Their scow was a large one, and in no time she had their
goods piled up on one end and the tent set up on the other.

" Xone of your fancy prices for that house and lot," she
said as she began to make things comfortable for living. It
certainly was quite as pleasant as living on one of the swamp
lost in the summer. They lived there on the bank of the
river some little time till the husband finally found a loca-

AN EYE TO BUSINESS 397

tion and started to erect a cabin. In about a month she
was bustling around in her new home putting things to
rights.

" Yes, sir, I can tell you I am pretty glad to get on terra
firma again," she said, " that is, if you can call this sort of
ground terra firma. It's an improvement, however. I've
been living on a boat ever since last March, nearly five
months. To tell the truth, I'm a little tired of gypsy life,
though I've stood it pretty well. Yes, our house is larger
than most of them here — twenty-three feet by sixteen.
But we have two stoves, and I think we will be able to keep
it warm next winter. As to furnishing — well, I don't
know. This is a queer town, isn't it? But the gold's all'
right."

She had an eye to business, and it had been her inten-
tion to secure a lot near the center or business portion and
start a bakery. " Just think of it," she said to her husband,
" bread is worth fifty cents a loaf, one-pound pies one dollar
each, just such as I used to make at home. They say I
could sell a scowload every day. I talked with one woman
who bakes, and she said the men came in and threw down
their sacks of gold, and when she took out what she thought
about the right amount and weighed it, if it went over the
requisite weight, they would say, ' ISTever mind, madam, let
it go.' Many times she gets from seventy-five cents to one
dollar for a loaf of bread. A sack of flour costs six dollars
here, and it makes forty-five loaves of bread."

They paid two hundred and fifty dollars for their lot,
which was some distance back near the banks of the Klon-
dike. Before they had owned it many days they sold one-
quarter of it, off the rear, for soventy-fivo dollars, and then
one-half of the front for one hundred and seventy-five dol-

398 HER INTERESTING CHARGES

lars. As she was too far from the center to make a bakery
profitable, she thought she wouhl turn lier attention to other
matters, and finally secured a chance to take care of a couple
of children. In telling about them she said:

'' One of them is ten years old and the other is six.
They are regular little teiTors. I wash them both six times
a day, and bathe them all over in a tub of water twice a
week, and then they are ahvays smutty. They are girls
and as ugly as sin. Their mother is a woman from Juneau.
Robert says, ' Why don't you wdiale them? ' He says I am
altogether too easy with them. I have not whipped them
yet, and I won't. I don't expect to have them long. There
is a Catholic church, a school, and a hospital building just
below where we are living, and when they are completed I
expect the little ones will stay with the Sisters. The Sisters
are expected here on the next boat from St. Michael, which,
if there is water enough for it to get up the river, will be
here in about a month. The girls say they don't want to
live with the Sisters; that they want to live with me and to
go to school from here. They lived with the Sisters in
Juneau, and they say the Sisters are not so good to them as
I am ; that they make them work, and that they whip them.
The little ones appear to like me very much. I get one
hundred dollars a month for taking care of the little terrors,
and I guess I earn every cent of it, but their mother fur-
nishes the bedding and a tent for them to sleep in."

I had found out that this w^oman made wonderfully fine
bread, and had purchased some occasionally. A little real
bread is a great delicacy on the Yukon, and while I had
looked upon myself as quite an expert I could recognize the
superiority of her light loaves. One day when I went to the
cabin she had just finished baking.

NEIGHBORLY ATTENTIONS 399

" I've baked seven loaves of bread, four pies, and a batch
of ginger-snaps to-day," she said. " By the way, what day
isitr'

" Saturday, I believe, but I'm not sure."

" I can never tell in this region without looking it up.
This perpetual daylight, when there is so much to do, gets
one all mixed up. Never saw such a place to live in in all
my life. Still, we get along nicely. There are some ad-
vantages in the country besides the gold. We have been
having a lot of the most delicious fish — king salmon.
There are two fishermen who live on the river bank just
below here, and I guess they must have taken a fancy to me,
as they send us fish every day. They sell their fish for fifty
cents a pound, but they don't charge me anything for them.
Yesterday they gave me ten or twelve pounds, five or six
dollars' worth, and to-day they gave me another large piece.
I give them a loaf of bread and a pie once in a while. To-
day I took them a loaf of bread, a pie, and a lot of ginger-
snaps. My, but they appear so grateful! I love to
give to them, for they appear so grateful for such trifles.
There are two of them — a father and a son. They have a
lot of dogs, eight large ones and seven small ones. There
are more dogs to the square yard here, I guess, than in any
place on earth. We have dog concerts every night. Such
lugubrious howls as these native dogs give utterance to;
and the exotics soon strike the key and become initiated. It
is something fearful. I am starving for vegetables and
fruit. And the mosquitoes — oh! they are terrible. They
make life a burden. But the gold's all right."

One of the most remarkable cases of fortune-making
by a woman was that of Mrs. Wills, whom T had met at
Circle City in 1800, where she was baking bread on a
2i

400 MRS. WILLS HAS THE GOLD FEVER

"^'ukou stove, with the results told in a previous chapter.
As the Circle City miners congregated at Mrs. Wills's
bakery for their daily bread, it became one of the news
centers of the place, and to this is due the fact that she was
among the first to hear of the rich strike on the Klondike.
Although she Avas making money at the rate of twenty-five
dollars a day, it only whetted her appetite for gold, and she
no sooner heard of the Klondike than she was ready to start.

It was three hundred long, dreary miles over snow and
ice to Dawson. Securing a mate for her dog, she closed
her bakery, and started alone. Two days later she was
joined by a party of cattlemen, who had heard the wonder-
ful stories of Klondike gold, and they, too, had caught the
gold fever. Mrs. Wills would be relieved of the burden of
her sleds and her dogs cared for if she would act as cook for
the party. This was a bargain, and it is said that she stood
the hardships of the journey " like a man."

She made her location on the Klondike, and filed
thereon, and at once set a man at work, while she returned
to Dawson and accepted a position with the Alaska Com-
mercial Company as head cook at fifteen dollars a day. She
paid the same amount to the men who worked her claim.
Thus she w^as able to work the claim and jet employ herself
in the more congenial occupation. Later she secured a
stove, this time one with an oven that held four bakepans,
and again went into the bakery business, and inside of two
weeks had customers enough at one dollar a loaf to keep the
oven going twelve hours a day.

As soon as all the good claims were taken up near Daw-
son City, then the claim-jumpers began to get in their work.
Several attempts Avere made to get possession of Mrs. Wills's
claim, which promised to pan out exceedingly rich, but she

r.p ^

ENTERPRISING AND PROSPEROUS 403

fought the case and held down her claim against all comers.
Finding that she could not be scared off it, offers to purchase
were tendered, but Mrs. Wills was mining for what she
could make, and the sum of two hundred and fifty thousand
dollars did not swerve her from her purpose. She expects
that her claim will pan out twice that amount. Meantime
she is making a net profit of more than fifty dollars a day in
her bakery and laundry, notwithstanding the high price of
flour and the fact that starch costs two hundred and fifty
dollars a box. She pays an Indian squaw who works for
her four dollars a day, and for the little log cabin in which
the work was done she has to pay thirty-five dollars a month.
Her fuel costs her over five hundred dollars a year, but she
made money rapidly at this, while those she hired to work
her mines found the gold rapidly. She made twelve thou-
sand dollars from them in a few weeks, and she struck the
richest gravel of any in May, and was making more money
than ever. She is a brave, entei*prising woman, who has
battled with poverty all her life, and we were glad she was
so fortunate at last. People in a mining camp like this are
not generally so envious of each other's prosperity as they
sometimes are in ordinary society.

It has been said that the Klondike offers a great oppor-
tunity for respectable unmarried women, and it is doubtless
true. A good woman is at a high premium in that region,
and so long as mines are rich, and millionaires are turned
out every season, women who have the courage to brave
such hardships as a journey to Alaska entails, and are not
too particular about the culture of the eligible men, may
marry a fortune. The fact is, however, that most good
women are particular about the men they marry. But
there are in the Klondike some as true specimens of man-

404 A GOOD PLACE FOR COOKS

hood as can be found anywliere. They may not appear so
in their rough surroundings, but there is value in their
rugged natures. A respectable woman has nothing to fear
in the way of insult in these mining regions. It may seem
at times on the trail that all s])irit of gallantry has been left
behind. Men, as a matter of course, have too much serious
work on hand in such ordeals to waste much time in
helping women over boulders and asking if they may have
the honor of carrying their packages just over the next hill,
but they never take any mean advantage of their weaker fel-
low-workers, and they allow full value for the work women
are better fitted to do than men. The field for cooking alone
is one of immense opportunity for women, and they are not
slow to see it. Even though a man is willing to get his
own meals after a day's hard work, few of them understand
how to prepare food in a wholesome, palatable way. Good
nourishing food is what they must have.

Aside from this there are lodging houses, and the actual
prospecting and mining, and washing and mending clothes,
and nursing, and undoubtedly women stand a good chance
for success.

There will be plenty of miners who will see that a
woman is protected. An illustration of this, one of the
thousands of dramatic incidents of Klondike life, stands
out significant of the real character of American men, as a
race. Dissension arose in a party of men and women, after
which a division occurred, and some of them decided to re-
turn to their homes. A man and his wife who could not
agree upon this point parted, and the wife suddenly found
herself the only woman in a camp with four hundred men,
without provisions of any sort, and no money. Some one
suggested that she cook for them, so she started bravely in,

A CHANCE FOR DRESSMAKERS 405

and tliose men, recognizing this as an isolated case where
tliey coukl go out of their way a little, made her feel their
care and protection. Its jnst as natural for men to want to
be helpful to a woman as it is to breathe, but during the first
weeks of the Klondike excitement men felt hindered very
often trying to help women along. They have all they can
manage to" look out for themselves, and when they found
women going up there to work independently, and that they
did not want men to help them, the situation presented
itself in its true light.

As the number of women in the city increased, several
began to turn their attention to dressmaking, which was
quite a profitable business. Five dollars was charged for
making a common calico wrapper such as could be put to-
gether in about three hours. The price for making a plain
woolen dress was thirty dollars, and the dressmakers had
to pay nothing for fashion-plates. Anything that looked
well passed muster.

Wading is an essential part of a trip in the Klondike,
especially in the vicinity of the mines, and women should,
for their own comfort, provide accordingly. The head-
wear affected by women there consists of close-fitting hats
or caps, made necessary by the high winds. All clothing is
worn loosely to facilitate moving about. No corsets are
worn; instead, a canvas waist has come into general use.
To this waist are buttoned the skirts (if worn) and the under-
garments. In winter women generally wear fur hoods and
parkas. On the feet are worn " muck lucks," a sort of boot
the foot of which is made of hair seal-skin.

A woman who had some experience in the Klondike
says that the venture means " an extra and heroic effort for a
big prize, and the harvest depends, as all harvests do, on the

•iOG REQUISITES OF A WOMAN'S WARDROBE

amount of strength and energy put into it. Therefore, if
she has the courage to make the great plunge with a possible
fortune at the end, in preference to smaller returns over a
greater space of time without extreme demands upon her
health, she will undoubtedly want to equip herself intel-
ligently.

"■ First, then, the clothing is to be considered. Starting
in the early spring, the following articles will be absolutely
indispensable :

" Four combination suits, heaviest quality; three pairs
bloomers; three thick sweaters; three short skirts (water-
proof cloth); one fur-lined jacket; two pair wristlets; four
pair woolen gloves; four pairs heaviest woolen blankets; six
pair woolen stockings ; two pairs rubber boots, one pair snow
shoes; several yards netting (against the impertinent mos-
quito later on) ; two woolen night dresses, and don't forget
dark-blue glasses, vaseline, and glycerine, for exposure to
the cold mnds and all the roughness of outdoor life will
play such havoc with hands and faces that much suffering
can be avoided by applying the last two when retiring into
blankets. There w'on't be any downy pillows, because
weary heads soon learn to sleep on bundles.

" It is much better to carry Avearing-apparel in water-
proof bags, as they are easier to handle, and boxes are
heavier and take up too much space. You won't have a
bit good time — but if all your belongings are not capsized
— and you are not drowned or otherwise killed, and you get
to any real Avhere — my! won't you feel it has paid for the
attempt — that is, if you're a genuine new woman and not a
mere new lady."

CHAPTER XXIX

A SEASON OF WILD STAMPEDES — THE CURIOUS CON-
DITIONS ON SKOOKUM GULCH — NEW WONDERS IN
ALASKA DISTRICT — MY NARROW ESCAPE FROM
DEATH.

Spreading Out Over the Wild Country — Stampedes a Daily Occur-
rence — How they were Started — Enterprise of an Exliausted
Party — Returning from One Rush Only to Fall in with Another —
The Astounding Results on Hunker Creek — Sudden Rise of Skoo-
kum Gulch — How it was Discovered — Kicking Over Boulders
and Finding Gold — Bench Claims — Strike on Dominion Creek —
An Old German's Good Luck on Sulphur Creek — Endeavoring to
Keep it Quiet — The News Leaks Out — Another Great Stampede —
Joe and I Conclude to See for Ourselves — A Misstep and a Drench-
ing in Ice Water — Injured and Exhausted — A Blinding Storm —
"Oh, for a Little Meat" — Joe Starts to Hunt for a Moose — Re-
turns and Finds Me Helpless — "I Guess I'm Done For" — A
Long Night and Day — Walking in a Circle — I Revive on Moose
Broth — Staking a Claim Anywhere — My Last Prospecting Trip.

WIIEX summer came there were nearly three tliou-
sancl people in and about Dawson, tlie great
majority of whom had come in during tlie win-
ter and spring, and who were eagerly waiting to make a
fortune. The class was increased when work became slack
in the mines, owing to the running water, and also began to
be increased by those from adjoining settlements who had
been unable to reach the district the season before, and l)y
the vanguard of that great crowd which was soon to pour
in over the passes. It is a fact significant of the remotc-

(407)

4:08 IN A STATE OF STAMPEDE

uess of the country and scarcity of facilities for conimimica-
tiou and transportation, that while all these scenes of newly-
discovered millions were being enacted at Dawson, the out-
side world was pursuing its peaceful way in utter innocence
of Dawson and its mines. A few letters had found their
way out, and there were rumors along the Pacific coast of
the new discoveries, but they were treated in the papers as
highly-colored tales, and stuck into inconspicuous places in
mining intelligence. Juneau miners had heard a good deal,
however, and were soon on their way down the river.

But, of course, the two creeks that were known had long
been completely staked. The floating population, im-
patiently waiting to grasp a fortune, was therefore in a
state of stampede all summer. The old miners, observing
the lay of the land and seeing that the Bonanza had other
" pups " which, while not very inviting to the gold-pros-
pector, looked fully as much so as the Eldorado had ap-
peared at first, and seeing also that the Klondike and the In-
dian River just above had numerous small tributaries, whose
headwaters seemed to center curiously around a ridge of
hills, in the center of which was a peak called the Dome,
had earl}^ begun to spread out over the country and to probe
the ground under the tundra of the banks. When they
found something that looked promising, they returned to
Dawson and applied for a discovery claim. This was hap-
pening all summer. No one knew the value of the dis-
covery, for it was impossible to fully know till the winter
had again frozen up the streams, but it made no difference
to the ever-increasing crowd of feverish fortune-hunters.
Stampedes were of daily occurrence, and the bulk of the
population was therefore kept in a state bordering on
physical exhaustion.

HOW STAMPEDES ARE STARTED 409

Generally, a stampede would start about in this way:
A man looking in the recorder's book would see that a claim
had been filed on some new and unheard-of creek. He
Avould give the tip to a friend and they would start off, but
the friend would first whisper it to another friend, and in a
few hours the whole town would know something was hap-
pening. A crowd would be quickly clambering over rocks
and struggling through places where there was not even a
trail.

Or, perhaps, some fellow would drift into a saloon with
a sack of gold, and in the garrulousness of intoxication would
confide to some one that he had found it on such a creek or
pup, and away the men would rush. There were many
curious experiences. One day a party left to go sixty miles
up the river, but after going about fifty miles they became
exhausted and turned back. On the way back they killed
a couple of moose, and each man's share of the proceeds
was sixty-one dollars and fifty cents. While they were
gone another stampede took place at about ten o'clock at
night. Several went up the river and staked claims, know-
ing nothing as to their value, and came back with no gold,
only to fall in with the next rush.

But the result of all these stampedes was to open up a
much larger gold-bearing territory, which will be heard from
in the future. One of the first and most promising of these
discoveries was made by a man by the name of Hunker,
who gave his name to the creek which flows into the Klon-
dike about ten miles above the mouth of the Bonanza, and
the principal tributaries of which are Gold Bottom and
Last Chance creeks. Hunker made his discovery late in
the spring, and on account of the abundance of water and
the marshy character of the soil little could be done at once

410 MARVELOUS PAY-STREAKS

in (.Irifting, but the rich results simply astounded those who
had become used to that sort of thing. The pay-streak was
measured and found to be two hundred feet wide. ]\Iany
believed that the creek would surpass Eldorado. A half
interest in one claim was sold for thirty thousand dollars.
On Gold Bottom and Last Chance, pans of from twenty-five
cents to twenty dollars were reported near the surface.
Bear Creek, which flows into the Klondike between Hunker
and Bonanza creeks, Avas also early prospected and staked
out, yielding some fine returns near the surface. Xuggets
the size of peas were brought down to Dawson from its
banks and served to increase the excitement of the new-
comers.

The sudden rise of Skookum Gulch was one of the queer
incidents of the unfolding of this marvelous territory. It
enters Bonanza near Cormack's discovery claim, but in the
first rush it was passed by as worthy of no attention. A
man who had for several years been working a claim on
American Creek started for the Klondike as soon as the
news reached him, traveling on the ice with a dog team, the
thermometer ranging about sixty below. Bonanza and El-
dorado were all staked then, and in March, after bringing
up his outfit, he formed a partnership and secured a lay on
Cormack's claim. While working there they located
claims Xos. 1 and 2 on Skookum Gulch,' near by, and at odd
times worked the ground. About the middle of April they
struck a pay-streak at a depth of about four feet, and gave
up their lay at Cormack's, where they had cleaned up about
seven thousand dollars, and went to work on their Skookum
claims. After drifting four days they washed out two thou-
sand eight hundred dollars of some of the coarsest gold that
had been found anywhere in the district. Of course, there

VALUABLE BENCH CLAIMS 411

was another stampede. The two discoverers worked away
till July, cleaning np about forty thousand dollars in the
four months. Then they sold out for a big figure and went
home.

But there were creek claims, that is, claims staked along
the creek from rim-rock to rim-rock. The creek was all
located by July, and some of the claims had been deserted,
as the surface indications were not extra, and because of the
constant rush for other new creeks, particularly on other
Klondike streams. No one had thought of bench claims,
that is, claims up on the side of the hills.

Conditions in Alaska and the ISTorthwest Territory are
so very different from those prevailing in the placer mining
regions of California and other countries, that the ex-
perience and knowledge of the average old miner, gained
after years of toil and hardship, sometimes only mislead
him.

This was illustrated in the discovery of bench claims on
Skookum Gulch, when a tenderfoot kicked over a boulder
and found gold nuggets sticking up under the sod. The
wildest excitement prevailed.

It was found that while many of the old prospectors had
searched long and faithfully for the nuggets in the creek
bed and near the center of the stream, they had entirely
overlooked the bench claims, which were found to be very
rich. Some of the claims on the creek bed were carefully
gone over, but did not prove very good. Miners sunk shafts
to bed-rock and toiled night and day for the yellow metal,
which lay so plentifully a few rods further up the hill away
from the stream. But the saying that gold is where you
find it was again exemplified. Thousands of people in the
last year had walked over the location and never thought of

41X> NUGGETS BENEATH THE MOSS

looking for gold there. Experienced miners would have
laughed at a man as a fool for thinking that gold might be
there. Yet in a few weeks about four hundred bench
claims were staked out.

Boulders were turned over, and there, lying exposed
on the gravel, was coarse gold. The moss was about twelve
inches thick, and beneath it in one day two men picked up
eight hundred dollars in nuggets. It was difficult to offer
a theory of how the gold got there. It was worn but little,
and just below^ in the gulch some rich specimens of float were
found. Some good miners thought it might be only the
edge of a wonderful pay-streak of quartz, as some quartz
was found adhering to the gold. When one old miner saw
what was being picked up under the moss, he said:

" Who'd ever thought of finding gold on the surface of
such a looking mountain as that. If science went for any-
thing, there wouldn't be an ounce of gold in the whole
mountain. 'No, sir, I'm ready to confess that I don't know
anything about placer mining, and I've been at it, off and on,
for years. These discoveries have been too much for me."

The excitement was intense. Hundreds of ounces were
taken out of the rockers by the dazed miners. In half a
day two men picked out with a rocker five hundred and
eighty-five dollars in coarse gold.

Attention was early directed to the creeks of the Indian
Eiver district whose headwaters lay in the same range of
hills in which the rich streams of the Klondike took their
rise. Various stampedes to Sulphur, Dominion, and Quartz
creeks took place, and by September there was not a claim
to be had, except at large prices, on any of these streams.
The strike on Dominion Creek was made on June 10th by a
man who had been on the Yukon for years, and the result

THE STAMPEDE TO SULPHUR CREEK 413

was one of the wildest stampedes of the year. The miners
brought back many favorable reports and some gold dust.
Pans running as high as two dollars and fifty cents were
found long before bed-rock was reached. The discovery
claim was located about three miles from the head of the
creek, which was soon staked for its entire length of twenty
miles.

Some of those who arrived too late to secure claims here
started to return to Dawson, and instead of returning by the
Indian Kiver went over the hills towards the Yukon. On
the 20th one of the party came to what is now known as
Sulphur Creek, at a point about seven miles from the hill
that separates it from Hunker Creek, which flows into the
Klondike. They found good prospects, and, going into a
partnership arrangement, sunk a shaft. They worked
quietly without letting any one know, but had not pro-
ceeded far before they found pans running as high as five
dollars. Then they staked out claims for themselves and
went to Dawson to record them. They endeavored to keep
it quiet, but in August it leaked out, and there w^as another
stampede, over five hundred men crossing the rough moun-
tain between Eldorado and Dominion creeks.

They had not been working long before pans running
over thirty dollars were found not far below tlie surface.
Two men took out three hundred dollars one day in simply
prospecting their claims. The formation seemed to be
much like that of Eldorado Creek, which bears the same
relation to Bonanza that Sulphur docs to Dominion, and
the process which brought gold into one must have brought
it into the other. As these streams flowed into the Indian
River they were in another mining district, and so those
having claims on the Klondike streams were at liberty to

414 EXCITED AND IMPROVIDENT MINERS

stake on Dominion and Sulpliur. The excitement was in-
tense and continued for some time, as new strikes were con-
stantly reported. The old German who located the dis-
covery took out thirty dollars to the pan, and in most places
the water on the creek was not deep, so that the claims could
be worked easier than those on the Klondike.

But many of the locators either did jiot have energy to
sink their prospect holes, or were too restless on account of
the daily stampedes to other creeks to remain, and so it
began to be rumored about that Sulphur Creek was of no
value. A few of the first locators, however, staid by it, and
they were richly rewarded. When the large pans began to
be taken out, another stampede occurred. Claims that had
been abandoned were staked by other parties and soon could
hardly be bought at any price.

About forty men rushed out on this forty-mile tramp,
and many of the newcoiuers were so excited and in such
haste to find a hole from which they could take gold that
they rushed oif without taking their blankets or enough to
eat. Indeed, this was a feature of all these stampedes, and
many came near losing their lives, and, doubtless, would
have done so but for the kindness of more provident pros-
pectors.

Indeed, the dangers incuiTed in these wild scrambles
over the mountains could not be altogether avoided by those
who were careful enough to make ample provisions for their
trip. Joe and I had a rather narrow escape ourselves dur-
ing the fall excitement over the tributaries of Dominion
Creek. We had not, as a rule, indulged in the stampedes,
for we were well aware of their dangers and uncertainties,
and aware also that claims were being staked constantly by
those who immediately rushed off to another localit}', so that

WE START OUT PROSPECTING 415

if at any time actual prospects should reveal any surpassing
richness in the new discoveries it would be time enough to
rush in and secure some of the deserted claims. But when
the fall excitement over Sulphur Creek occurred we con-
cluded to go over the hills and prospect a little thereabout
for ourselves. We were at the camp at that time, and dur-
ing the rush men had dropped their picks and run from
wiiidlasses to hurry over to the Indian River district. Joe
and I took our time and put in our packs a good supply of
beans and blankets.

I had not been feeling well for several days, ha\dng
been weak and sometimes a little feverish. I had at-
tributed it to drinking poor water and to the everlasting
monotony of diet at the camp, but I felt better when we
started, and thought little of it while we plodded along over
the rough hillsides through the snow. All this country is
so rugged that the eye is startled at surveying it from some
commanding peak. Hill crowding hill, mountain jostling
mountain, on and on they sweep to the uttermost reach of
the vision.

Reaching wliat we took to be the upper part of Sulphur
Creek, we prospected through that region and then started
to work our way up a gulch which looked as promising as
anything could in that locality. I Avas struggling along
over a high bluff of rocks along by the bed of the stream,
when I made a misstep and rolled, pack and all, over the
edge of the rocks, striking on a bit of thin ice at the bottom.
It gave way and let me into the ice-cold water. Joe was
ahead and did not miss me till I shouted. But before he
could make his way to the bed of the stream I had pulled
myself out, dripping and shivering. My aid<lc was slightly
sprained, but I minded that less than the cold. We finally

41() A SICK MAN S FANCIES

worked oiir way up to a little eluiup of spruces, where I
dropped down exhausted and half frozen.

Joe liad a fire going in a short time and made me a cup
of strong tea, but it did little good, and 1 grew worse and
worse. I was terribly w^eak, but abhorred the sight of beans,
which Joe placed over the fire in the hopes of reviving my
strength. Oh, for a little meat! I thought.

The day before we had seen several moose tracks and
had even caught a glimpse of two or three too far away on
the hills to shoot, and, encumbered as we were, w^e did not
take the trouble to follow them. As I lay there on a blanket
on the snow I felt as if I would give all the Klondike soil I
possessed for a bit of moose steak.

" Joe," I said, '' I will watch the beans. Take the rifle
and see if you cannot find a moose. I am dying for meat."

He left me, working his way off up the gulch, and I lay
there watching the fire play about the kettle of beans. The
wind shifted and blew the smoke straight towards me, but I
was too weak to move or to mind such a trifle. Then it grew
dark and began to snow^, and I rapidly grew weaker and
sicker. The fire began to work into fantastic shapes and
seemed to dance about in the snow, then grow dim, then
blaze up in flaming fierceness, — then all was dark.

The next I knew I felt a queer sensation in one of my
hands ; then I recognized Joe's voice. He was slapping my
right hand and shouting in my ears. Finally I opened my
eyes. It was dark. The fire was out. The beans were
])unit up. It was snowing frightfully and the wind was
sweeping through the gulch with a dreadful roar, which fell
on my benumbed ears like a wail of despair.

" Come, come, this'll never do," I heard Joe say. " TTe
must get out of this."

A NIGHT IN THE SNOW 417

I tried to raise myself, but fell back helpless. My ankle
began to pain me terribly, and then everything began to
swim before my dull eyes again.

" No use, Joe," I said, feebly, " I guess I'm done for."

Having started another fire, he soon brought me a big
cup of hot strong tea and held it while I drank it slowly off.
I fell back and thought I felt better. Then he an-anged
some boughs over my head and threw a blanket over them
to protect me from the wind. Dragging more poles down
the hill, he heaped them on the fire, which roared and hissed
almost at my feet. The snow was flying so thick that it
was impossible to see but a little way before us.

'' I must find a sled somewhere," said Joe, wdien he had
made these preparations, and soon I saw him disappear again
in the blinding snow. Then I fell into a sort of stupor.

How like a dreadful panorama my short career passed
before me as I lay there during those long dark hours.
Was this the end? There was a comfortable little fortune
stacked away in our tent over in the camp, and here I was
dying, as I thought, just because of a little misstep. On
and on dragged the hours, and Joe did not return. The
daylight broke, and still he did not come. I had become
very faint and was almost too weak to move a muscle. The
fire was dying into embers, and it grew very cold, though it
had ceased to snow with so much fury.

After a long time, how long I could not tell, I heard
shouting, and, making a great effort, raised my head out of
the snow and feebly responded. In a few minutes I saw a
dark form coming through the snow, and- then I recognized
Joe running rapidly towards me and pulling a sled.

" Xow you'll be all right, my boy," he said. " I'm
mighty glad to find you alive."
25

418 MOOSE BROTH AS A TONIC

Then he told me the story of his search. It seems he
had started out in the storm for the purpose of making his
way down to Sulphur Creek far enough to find some miners
M'itli a sled. He set off, as he thought, in the right direc-
tion and had a hard tramp over the hills in the dark and in
the face of the blinding stonn. After walking till about
three o'clock in the morning he saw a light and hastened
forward in the hope of finding a camp of miners. What
was his surprise upon coming up to the fire to find it the
same one he had built a few hours before! I was uncon-
scious.

He threw some more wood on and started out again.
At last he came to a sled track, and, after following it for
nearly six miles, came upon two men who had half a moose
on a sled. In my extremity Joe had forgotten to eat any-
thing and was nearly famished when he came upon the
miners. They hurriedly cooked him some meat, and he
told them of my danger. They told him to take the sled,
and, cutting off a piece of moose meat, strapped it on, and
Joe started back for me, running much of the way. He had
experienced a little difficulty in finding me, and about given
me up for dead, when he heard my feeble response to one of
his cries.

He told me this while he hurriedly built another fire,
and put the moose in a kettle for a stew. That stew braced
me up at once. Nothing will ever taste so good again as
did that steaming moose broth. During the day I began
to regain my strength, and we started down the creek to find
the two benefactors. At first Joe insisted upon my riding,
and he tugged away like a hero over the rough places, but
I began to feel better, and the last part of the way hobbled
along fairly well, resting occasionally.

OUR LAST TRIP IN THE KLONDIKE 419

" We ought to stake a claim somewhere after going
through all this," I said to Joe while we were taking our first
rest near the mouth of the gulch, which had not yet been
staked. We had built a fire and were about to take a little
lunch.

" Well, we might as well stake here as anywhere," he re-
plied. " ISTever mind the indications. They don't count
in this country. The only thing to do is to stake anywhere
and trust to luck. It certainly looks better here than on
Bonanza."

But we finally Avorked our way down the creek and took
the first available claim, and after a few days went back to
our camp. That was the last prospecting trip we made in
the Klondike.

CHAPTEK XXX

STA3IPEDERS WHO NEGLECTED TO RECORD CLAIMS —
CREEKS TOO NUMEROUS TO REMEMBER — POSSI-
BILITIES OF OTHER DISTRICTS — NEW GOLD FIELDS.

Midnight Rush to Montana Creek — Staking by Torchlight — A Pugil-
ist on Hand — Locaters Rested after Their Journey — Their Stakes
Stealthily Removed and Others Substituted — The First to Record
Takes the Claim — Great Stampede to All Gold Creek — The
Rush for Bryant Creek — Intended to be Named for William J. Bryan
— Result of the Slip of the Pen — Neglecting to Record for Fear
Something Better Would be Found — Tenderfeet Froz^en Out —
Waiting Three Days to Reach the Gold Commissioner — The
Country Staked for a Hundred Miles Around — Frauds Perpe-
trated— Impossibility for the Officers to Measure Claims during
the Wild Stampedes — Wild Race down the Frozen Yukon to
Buy a Claim — Old Miners' Belief in Stewart River — Gold Found
Everywhere — Difficulties of Prospecting on the Stewart — Some
of the Gold-Bearing Creeks Which May Be Heard From — In the
Same Belt as the Klondike.

NO sooner had the exhausted gold-seekers returned
to Dawson from the rush to Sulphur Creek than
another took place to Montana Creek, a little
stream eighteen miles long entering the Yukon on the east
side about eight miles south of Dawson and heading up
towards Eldorado. It was a dark and stormy night, the
air was filled with a light snow, but there was the greatest
excitement, especially among the new arrivals. About two
hundred and fifty men joined in the rush, many of them

(420)

A HEADLONG RUSH 421

going at two o'clock in the morning. Some tumbled into
boats and poled up the river against the strong current, and
others clambered over the mountain and gulches. Those
first on the creek built fires, and by torchlight measured off
their claims and planted their stakes. A pugilist from the
Pacific coast was the second man to locate. By midnight
seven claims were staked off, and then the rush kept pouring
in till the whole creek was staked and some were left with-
out places to stake. When the men had finished their sprint
over the trail or their difficult trip up the river, they were
cold and hungry, and so they camped as well as they could
somewhere on the creek before taking their way back.
Some of the late arrivals, noticing this delay, stealthily re-
moved stakes and put up their own. Then they rushed
back to the recording office in Dawson, and, of course, were
there long before the original claimants. When the latter
arrived there was naturally considerable loud talk and some
threats. There was nothing to do, however, but to accept
the situation, for the first man who records takes the ground,
unless there is a long litigation, Avhich might bring no satis-
faction. It is as important to be the first to reach the re-
corder's office as it is to be the first to locate a claim.

The rush to All Gold Creek was the largest of the sea-
son. At least five hundred men participated in that and
endured the greatest hardships. The stampede to Bryant
Creek, which is about nine miles up the Yukon from Daw-
son, took place early in September, The stream is about
twenty -five miles in length, and rises within a few rods of one
of tlie gulches which opens into Eldorado, whose waters
flow in a different direction. Many of the claims were
located at midnight. J. II. Howell of Seattle was the
original discoverer of gold on tliis creek, and, desiring to

422 THE SHIFTING TIDE OP FORTUNE

honor an old sclioolmate and friend, William J. Bryan, tlie
late Democratic candidate for President, he named it Bryan
Creek, bnt the Canadian recording ofHcer, having apparently
never heard of the jSTebraska orator, with an npward stroke
of the pen added the letter "• t " to the word, and thns Mr.
Bryan was deprived of another honor.

There were many instances of the shifting tide of fortune
in the Klondike creeks. All Gold Creek had been located
early in the summer, and there was the usual stampede
and failure on the part of the indolent or restless to find the
gold. Later, it was more thoroughly prospected, and gave
evidences of being as rich as some of the more famous
streams.

Late in October news was brought to Dawson that a
prospecting party had made a rich strike on a little creek
flowing into the Yukon about two miles above. It was
named Dion Creek, from one of the leaders of the party,
and many of the late newcomers managed to secure claims
on it. The gold was found about two and a half miles up,
and it was reported that the pay-streak was about five feet
thick on top of bed-rock. Being close to Dawson, and on
the Yukon, it was especially attractive, as it could be worked
cheaper. Very little prospecting was done on it, however,
as most of those who staked left to attend to other matters,
so that it was an impossibility to judge of its richness with
any degree of accuracy. Single pans of dirt worth as high
as fifteen dollars were found, and the creek was soon staked
for its whole length.

In the latter part of December great excitement was
again aroused by new strikes on Dominion Creek. Those
who were at work there were slowly thawing out the ground,
and it was reported that on Iso. 19 below Discovery the

GETTING LEFT 433

owners had sampled gravel at a depth of six feet, or about
two feet from bed-rock, and had taken out pans averaging
five dollars each. As this was better than had been found
on Bonanza and Eldorado at that depth, the claims of the
Dominion Creek district at once jumped to an enormous
price. It was said that seventeen thousand dollars was re-
fused for one claim on Sulphur creek, where, two months
before, claims could have been bought for two thousand five
hundred dollars. The gold was of good quality, even bet-
ter than that of Bonanza and Eldorado.

Calder Creek, which heads up just across the divide
from Eldorado, and runs into Quartz Creek in the Indian
River district, was discovered in the latter part of October,
and promised w^ell. In November not less than fifteen
claims were being worked on it, the miners having sledded
across from Eldorado.

During these stampedes some very queer cases hap-
pened. Some miners would participate in every rush and
stake out claims on the new creeks, but they delayed in
recording them because they could have but one in the dis-
trict, and every one was living in the constant expectation
that something even better would turn up. In this way
some had staked a dozen different locations without record-
ing any of them. The result was that often a prospector
came along one of the creeks with enterprise to sink a hole,
and would find good pay-dirt. Tie would at once record the
claim, and the original staker would be '' left."

During the last week in August a mad rush was made
to Moosehide Creek, about eight miles north of Dawson,
where a prospect of seventy-five cents to the pan was re-
ported. A number of tenderfect were fortunate enough to
secure good locations, but they forgot, after staking their

434 UNCERTAINITIES OF PROSPECTING

claims, to have them recorded. Their neglect soon became
kno^vn in Dawson, and another rush took place, resulting in
the freezing out of the original tenderfeet.

The difficulty in determining the richness of any new dis-
trict lies in the fact that it is impossible to go to bed-rock in
the summer. The banks along the creeks are marshy, and
in many places it seems necessary to sink the shaft in the
very bed of the creek, so that no prospecting for real values
can be done till winter sets in.

Some idea of tlie uncertain character of prospecting may
be gained from the fact that Victoria Creek, a tributary of
the Bonanza, located in the fall of 1896 when the first rush
was made, and practically deserted, w^as again prospected,
and in June came reports of big strikes on it. In a short
time claims were selling at good figures, but no one seemed
to know whether they were as rich as reported. The danger
that those who had claims on creeks which did not promise
well would organize stampedes so as to sell off their claims to
hungry newcomei-s, of course, always existed.

As a natural result of all these stampedes and strikes,
the office of the gold commissioner was besieged con-
tinually by men wishing to file claims. At some of the
busiest times men were compelled to keep their places in
line for three days before they could ,get to the commis-
sioner's desk. Sometimes the 'thermometer stood forty
below.

"^Hien the people began to pour into Dawson in the
spring of 1897 the furtherest claim staked was not more
than twenty miles away. But by the end of the year the
country w^as staked for a hundred miles about, and pros-
pectors were Avandering in the mountains further away
than that. The tenderfeet kept on locating dozens of creeks

FRAUDS OF THE STAMPEDERS 425

further and further away, till finally we gave up trying to
keep track of them, or even to remember their names. The
gold commissioner has had a difficult undertaking with so
many new men, for there seemed to be a lot who came for
the purpose of locating all the claims they could, and after
winter set in again they carried out their purpose, though
with many hardships and privations.

The distance to these new creeks was always great, the
weather intensely cold, and the stampeders in nearly
every case were forced to break trail through two feet of
snow. Under these conditions it was impossible for the
gold commissioner to prevent stampeders from staking an
unlimited number of claims for friends and acquaintances,
who afterwards recorded them in Dawson, after first swear-
ing that they personallj^ staked the claims and found gold
prospects upon them. On Rosebud Creek, the scene of one
of the winter excitements, two men staked twenty claims
each. A man was arrested for staking two claims on
Hunker Creek, and a jeweler in Dawson forfeited his min-
ing rights, together with the titles to four claims, for record-
ing a claim that had been staked for him by a stampeder.

The gold commissioner received information that many
stampeders had staked and recorded more than one claim in
each district. Under the existing laws, each individual
can record but one claim in a district. Owing to the
pressure of business at the commissioner's office it was im-
possible to thoroughly identify each applicant for a mining
claim, and this made frauds possible.

Early in December there started from Dawson an ex-
citing race for a fortune, perhaps the longest and most
unique that was ever recorded in the history of any mining
camp in the world. Two dog teams hurriedly left Dawson

420 A RACE FOR A FORTUNE

and went flyiiig down the river over an unbroken trail of ice
to Circle City, a distance of over three hundred miles to the
rim of the Arctic Circle.

Fred Trump owned a half interest in claim 'No. 4G below
discovery on Hunker Creek. Like many others, when pro-
visions were scarce, he was compelled to leave for Fort
Yukon, but he got only as far as Circle City. There was
practically no grub to be had, and he was without funds, and
repeatedly tried to sell the property for two thousand dollars.
Shortly after his departure from Dawson, pay-gravel run-
ning five dollars to the pan was struck on the claim in which
he was interested. An offer of fifty thousand dollars for
the claim was declined, and other properties adjoining be-
came almost equally valuable.

Captain Guiger came up from Circle City on December
4th and said that Trump was vainly trying to sell his half
interest in the claim for two thousand dollars. That night
at ten o'clock a well-equipped dog team started out over the
ribbon of broken ice to Circle City with orders and gold
dust to purchase the claim at any price under twenty-five
thousand dollars. At four o'clock the next morning a
second team followed in hot pursuit, and Dawson was left
to wonder what the result of the race would be. When the
ice goes out the world may know.

It was the opinion of many old miners late in 1897 that
in a few years the headquarters of the gold-mining on the
upper Yukon would be on the Stewart River. During the
latter part of the season many had worked their way up the
river and its tributaries, and from time to time came re-
ports of wonderfully rich finds. It was, of course, too far
away to be verified, and too great a distance for a large
stampede, but several small parties left Dawson for the

A NEW FIELD ON THE STEWART 427

river, and as they did not return disgusted, as the stani-
peders so often did, the fact was generally regarded as con-
clusive that they were finding gold in large quantities. It
was calculated that as many as two hundred and fifty were
wintering on the streams and its creeks, and there is cer-
tainly room there for many thousand.

Although the bars of the Stewart Eiver had been suc-
cessfully worked for ten years, there had been no real pros-
pecting done on the many important tributaries till last
year. Everywhere that the explorers and scattering pros-
pectors have gone on the Stewart and its branches gold has
been found. On many creeks the prospects were extra
good. Several things have conspired to leave this field
practically untouched. The question of getting supplies
in is a very serious one. At the same time, the few hundred
men who have been on the Yukon for several years have
found sufficiently attractive diggings nearer to the older
district and closer to the supply bases. The Indians also
have a fear of the natives of the headwaters, and cannot be
prevailed to go up the river a great distance. Trom
the mouth of Stewart River to Mount Jesus on the north
fork the distance is estimated at four hundred and fifty
miles, and to the head of this fork in the vicinity of five hun-
dred miles in all. The south fork is practically unexplored,
only one or two parties having been on it, and then not for
a sufiicient distance to determine its character or length.
The prospectors and those who have been on the river say
that it carries a larger body of water than Polly River, and
is beyond doubt the second largest feeder of the Yukon.

The first gold discoveries there were made in 1885 on
bars within about one hundred miles from the month.
These were rich. During the fall, in less tlian fifty days

438 OTHER GOLD-BEARING STREAMS

time, as high as six thousand dollars to the man was rocked
out. In 1886 fully a hundred men were working on the
river bars with good success. Some went up the north fork
nearly to its head. Each succeeding season the bars have
been worked until they failed to pay the high wages.

The Stewart empties into the Yukon about seventy
miles above the mouth of the Klondike. From its mouth to
the forks is about two hundred and seventy miles, and the
north fork extends some two hundred and fifty miles further
on. A trifle over two hundred miles from its mouth the
Frazer Falls make an insurmountable bar to possible steam-
boat navigation. They make a fall of thirty feet in a dis-
tance of one hundred and fifty feet, and are not over
seventy-five feet in width. Here a portage of about half a
mile must be made. From there on rapids are encountered
for about six miles. But these can be poled and lined over
without great difficulty.

Among the tributaries upon which gold has now been
found is Kosebud Creek, about forty miles up on the south
bank. Xo prospecting has been done to any extent. Lake
Creek, about sixty-five miles up, has shown gold on its bars,
but no work has been done. lIcQuesten River is much
larger than any of these creeks, and several good bars have
been worked on it, some of them paying as high as fifty dol-
lars per day with rockers. Some work has been done on the
side creeks emptying into the McQuesten. The McQuesten
is supposed to head close to Beaver River, which is the
largest branch of the north fork of the Stewart. Forty
miles further up on the south side is Crooked Creek, upon
which gold has been found in small quantities, but only sur-
face work has been done on it. Mayo Creek comes in on
the northern bank about forty miles above Crooked Creek.

ALASKA A QUEER COUNTRY 439

About six miles up there is a canon which extends for six
miles, and through which it is impossible to take a boat.
Two boats were carried around it in 1894, and the stream
was traversed for about seventy-five miles. More or less
gold was found on the bars all along. In the caiion coarse
gold was found in several places. As high as ten cents a
pan was found on the surface.

Much of the Stewart Eiver lies in the same belt as the
gold-bearing regions of the Klondike, and that there is gold
there cannot be doubted. The difficulty is in getting to it.
It is necessary to take a full year's outfit to prospect on the
upper waters. Owing to the distance prospectors have had
to spend the best part of their time in bringing up their out-
fits. By the time a man has poled from Forty Mile or
Dawson up to the mouth of the river, and from there a hun-
dred miles to the McQuesten, the summer season is past,
and he must have winter provisions or hurry back. Miners
have not felt that they could afford to do this so long as
there were good paying mines near Forty Mile on the Klon-
dike, and the recent prospects on the stream come from
those who have been led by the wonderful Klondike placers
to look more carefully into all this region. To the old
miner, acquainted with the general rules of indications of
gold, the Stewart would look much more promising than
the Klondike, but it is unsafe to apply to Alaska any rules
that hold elsewhere in the world. It is a queer country,
and Avhen the thousands who have now rushed in have
poked around in the hills for a time we shall know a great
many new things — that is, if the peoplp who are doing the
poking do not die in the attempt.

These gold fields can be developed but slowly. Ten
thousand men can come here and be lost in the great ter-

430 WEALTH PAST COMPREHENSION

ritorj wlicn they scatter to prospect. A few of them will
strike a mine and become rich. When they do strike pay-
dirt their fortunes will be made. In years to come, after
an awful sacrifice of human life and energy, when the treas-
ures of this great land are located, its wealth will be some-
thing beyond our present comprehension.

CHAPTER XXXI

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KLONDIKE — CHARACTER-
ISTICS OF THE CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE —
CANADIAN REGULATIONS — THE MAILS THROWN
AWAY ON THE TRAIL — A QUESTION OF LIFE OR
DEATH.

Attention Paid the Yukon District by Canadian Government after
Gold Discoveries — Concerned Over Loss of Revenue — Detach-
ment of Police Sent In — When the Organization vpas Formed —
Its Principal Features — Officers and Constables — The Yukon
Territory — Powers of the Gold Commissioner — His Word Final
in All Cases as to Claims — Experience of a Seattle Man — How a
Double Sale was Quickly Untangled — Government Rights over
the Yukon Region — The Proposed Royalty — Indignation of the
Miners — A Meeting and a Protest — Possibilities of Trouble —
Uncertainty of the Mails — Difficulties of a Carrier — Mail Matter
Taken by Returning Miners and Thrown Away on the Trail — A
Matter of Life or Death.

THE Klondike region, being in the Xorthwest Ter-
ritory, is subject to the laws of Canada, but it was
not till after pioneers from the United States began
to find gold about the boundary line that the Ottawa govern-
ment paid much attention to the country. The hardy
miners who first prospected up and down the streams, suf-
fering great hardships, had secured their supplies from trad-
ing companies navigating the Yukon, and when, by 1894,
it began to appear that considerable gold was being found,
and that much merchandise was being taken into the Xorth-

(431)

Vo'Z MOUNTED POLICE SUPERVISION

west Territory free of duty, the Ottawa government thouglit
" that the time had arrived to make more efficient provision
for the maintenance of order, the enforcement of the laws,
and the administration of justice in the Yukon country,
especially in that section of it in which placer-mining for
gold is being prosecuted upon such an extensive scale."

It was evident that the Dominion government viewed
with considerable concern the loss of revenue or duty upon
the provisions which were taken to the pioneers with so
much difficulty and expense. Accordingly, a detachment
of twenty members of the mounted police force was detailed
for service along the upper Yukon. The officer in com-
mand, Inspector Constantine, in addition to the magisterial
duties which he was required to perform, was authorized
to represent, when necessary, all the departments of the
Canadian government having interests in that region. His
instructions particularly authorized him to perform the
duties of Dominion land agent, ^collector of customs, and
collector of inland revenue. Later, Mr. Thomas Fawoett
was appointed gold commissioner, surveyor, and general
agent of the Minister of the Interior for the district. It
was thus, after Americans in the course of their difficult
and generally unremunerative prospecting throughout the
region had found gold, that the Canadian officials awoke
to the necessity of sending in the machinery of the govern-
ment.

Whatever may have been the motive of the Canadian
government in sending in agents to the new district, it must
be said to her credit that she has sent good ones, and that
the supervision of the mounted police has given the people
of the Klondike a sense of security which is not nsually en-
joyed in new raining camps, especialh' when so far removed

THE MOUNTED POLICE 433

from the centers of civilization. Their scarlet nniform is
the symbol of law and order in the Northwest.

The force was organized when Alexander Mackenzie
was Premier, and was one of Sir John Macdonald's inspira-
tions. After his return to power in 1878 it always re-
mained under his own eye. The nucleus of the force was
got together at Manitoba in 1873. It originally numbered
only three hundred, but by its coolness and pluck at critical
periods it accomplished much by reducing the Indians and
lawless whisky traders to a stat>e of order. The police built
posts and protected white settlers, and the surveyors who
had already began parcelling out the country and exploring
the route of the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1877
nearly the whole of the little force was concentrated on the
southwesteni frontier to watch and check the six thousand
Sioux wdio sought refuge in Canada after their defeat and
massacre of Custer and his command on the Little Big
Horn.

It was through the efforts of the mounted police that
the Sioux were finally induced to surrender peacefully to
the United States authorities in 1880 to 1881. After the
outbreak of the half-breeds under Louis Riel in 1885, the
force was increased to one thousand men, their present
number.

Like the Eoyal Irish Constabulary, on which it was
modelled, the mounted police is, in the eye of the law, a
purely civil body. Its officers are magistrates, the men are
constables. But so far as circumstances will allow, its or-
ganization, internal economy, and drill are those of a cavalry
regiment, and when on active service in a military capacity
the officers have army rank. The afi'airs of the force are
managed by a distinct department of the Canadian govoru-
26'

434 ITS OFFICERS AND RECKUITS

incnt, under the supervision of a cabinet minister. The
executive command is held by an officer styled the commis-
sioner and ranking as lieutenant-colonel. The assistant
commissioner ranks as a major, and, after three years ser-
vice, as a lieutenant-colonel. Ten superintendents with
captain's rank command the divisions, with about thirty-five
inspectors as subalterns who correspond to lieutenants.
The medical staff consists of a surgeon, five assistant sur-
geons, and two veterinary surgeons. The non-commis-
sioned officers are as in our army, while the troopers are
called constables.

The rank and file are not excelled by any picked corps
in any service. A recruit must be between twenty-two and
forty-five years old, of good character, able to read and to
write English or French, active, well built, and of sound
constitution. Their physique is very fine, the average of
the whole thousand being five feet nine and a half inches in
height, and thirty-eight and a half inches around the chest.

There has always been an unusual proportion of men of
good family and of education in the service. Lots of young
Englishmen who came out to try their hand at farming in
the far west have drifted into the police, as bave also well-
connected Canadians. Waifs and strays from ever^'^where,
and of every calling, are to be found in the ranks. The roll-
call would show defaulters if no man answered to any name
but his own. There is at least one lord in the force, and
many university graduates. As a rule they are men who
get along well with the miners. They experience much
the same hardships in winter, and they like to see fair play,
but they are stern in camming out the law of the land.

The Yukon Territory, so designated by Canada for the
purpose of government, is about one-half as large as Alaska,

GOVERNMENT OF THE YUKON TERRITORY 437

and extends from British Columbia on the south to the
Arctic Ocean on the north, and from the one hundred and
sixty-first meridian on the west to the mountains eastward
separating the watershed of the Mackenzie from that of the
Yukon. The chief official is known as the Commissioner
of the Ten-itory, and all the officials, with the exception of
the judge of the court, may be suspended by him for cause.
The police is under his orders, and he is given ample author-
ity to meet any emergency that may arise without waiting
to hear from Ottawa. The judge is sent to administer the
ordinary laws of the territory. Besides the gold commis-
sioner there is a registrar of the land district, a lawyer,
whose duties combine the clerkship of the court and the
registration of titles, four land surveyors acting under the
gold commissioner, and a number of custom offieere sta-
tioned at various points along the line of entry into the
district. The mounted police force on the Yukon was but
a hundred at first, but has been increased to two hundred
and fifty, stationed along the trails and at Yukon centers.

But a small part of the machinery of government was
on hand during the first year of the Klondike excitement.
Some of the higher officials did not start until late in 1897,
and during the winter were tied up at the mouth of the Big
Salmon River, unable to proceed to Dawson. Meanwhile
authority was vested in the inspector of police and the gold
commissioner. The power of the latter to settle all dis-
putes as to claims is absolute. He listens to cases involving
ownership to gold claims, and renders his decisions
promptly. If there has not been some mistake in reports,
his decision is final. And the adjustment tlmi lie an-
nounces becomes the law by which all interested parlies
must abide.

438 THE WAY A SNARL WAS UNTANGLED

A single case will illustrate. Michael Kcllv, a Avell-
knoAvn pioneer, went to the Klondike with his son. Father
and son located several claims on different- creeks with the
understanding that they would share the proceeds equally.
The elder Kelly decided to return to Seattle early in 1897,
and left his son on the claim last located. At that time the
Klondike was not knowni to be a bed of glittering gold.

Kelly was anxious to return to the gold fields, but de-
sired to raise money in order to leave his family in comfort-
able circumstances. He met a man by the name of Craw-
ford and proposed to sell him a half interest in his claim for
one thousand dollars. Crawford mortgaged his property,
disposed of his jewelry, and, by taking some friends in with
him, secured enough money to pay Kelly the one thousand
dollars. Crawford went to the Klondike in the spring, and,
to his dismay, found that young Kelly, not knowing what
his father had done, had sold the Bonanza claim to an Eng-
lish syndicate for ten thousand dollars.

When the'elder Kelly learned what had taken place, he
said that Crawford had made his purchase in good faith and
that his rights must be protected. The affair was referred
to the gold commissioner, who decided that Crawford and
his associates were to have half of the claim, but that they
must pay to the English syndicate one thousand five hun-
dred dollars out of the first clean-up, while the Kellys
should return to the English syndicate five thousand dol-
lars, or half the original purchase price.

This decision was accepted by all parties w^ithout a
murmur, and a tangle was settled in a day that in the
United States would have been a source of endless litigation.
Miners said that Crawford's claim was worth between one
hundred thousand and three hundred thousand dollars.

A ROYALTY PROPOSED 439

It should be iniderstood that all the territory in these re-
gions constitute what are known as crown lands, the govern-
ment having the right to reserve it all from pre-emption for
any purpose. The reservation of gold-bearing lands is
simply a partial exercise of the right of the crown to ex-
clusive domain, and the British government has always
claimed that gold and silver were royal metals, and has
claimed the right to draw royalty from such metals. As
soon, therefore, as the government heard of the rich dis-
coveries on the Klondike, steps were taken to reduce the
length of the claims to' one hundred feet, and to exact a
heavy royalty. At first it was proposed to make this royalty
twenty per cent, and to reserve every alternate claim for the
government to dispose of in any way it saw fit. It would
have the right to work them for the crown if it chose, and
the government would be in a position thus to draw rich
revenue as a result of the long searches and many hardships
of the pioneers of the country.

When the intention of the Dominion government be-
came known in Dawson, there was great indignation among
the miners, Canadians as well as Americans. A meeting
was held on the street, and it was evident that any attempt
to enforce such a law would either amount to nothing or
else the development of the mines would stop.

" What inducement is there for us," said one miner,
"' to endure all the hardships and expense of mining in this
country, if, after we have found gold, the governniont steps
up and takes a fifth of what we dig, and, above that, takes
one-half of the claims? Many of us have been enduring
hardships here for years, and until now have scarcely made
more than enough to provide ourselves with provisions.
ISTow, when we have found something worth developing in

440 FORCEFUL WORDS

this frozen region, Canada talks of keeping the best half for
herself while we do the work. I guess not."

The Canadian officials on the spot seemed to sympathize
with the sentiments of the miners, but they said they should
strictly enforce whatever became the law. A protest was
drawn up and a committee appointed to proceed to Ottawa
and present the case of the miners. In their protest, which
was a long docuitient worded with skill and force, they
claimed that the value of the placers had been exaggerated,
and many claims would not be profitable if such a tax were
imposed, the rate of wages and the cost of provisions being
so necessarily high.

" This," they said, " is a land of tremendous solitudes
and marvelous wildness. It appears to be a land of im-
mense promise to the prospector, but the appearance may
be deceptive. It is outside the range of language to picture
the trials that encompass the explorer who goes forth here
with pick, shovel, and gold-pan to search for gold. Only
strong men are equal to the task, and only men of great
courage and perseverance can press far. If the government
place a heavy hand on the prospectors, already almost fren-
zied Avith toil and privation, prospecting in this district will
be abandoned by the majority, and prospectors will turn
toward other gold fields. This is not- a threat; it is a con-
dition."

It was pointed out that if the government reserved every
alternate claim of one hundred feet it would be impossible
to co-operate along the creeks for building dams for sluicing
without trespassing on government claims, and if the
government should sell its claims it would simply mean that
the old minei-s who had found the mines and suffered all
manner of privations would be crowded out by capital,

EXPENSIVE RESTRICTIONS 441

which would reap the profit without having heen forced to
undergo the hardships.

But the temptation to reap a large revenue was too great
for the Ottawa government. Besides, it was a source of no
little chagrin to many Canadians to see the gold worked out
of British soil l\y Americans to be carried down the coast
and into the mints of the United States instead of those of
Canada. This was natural. Doubtless the people of the
United States would have felt in much the same way had
the conditions been reversed, although no restrictions what-
ever had ever been placed on Canadians mining on Birch
Creek and in other portions of Alaska. The Canadian
government did not wish to impose so heavy a tax as to put
an end to the development of the country, but it evidently
intended to impose all that seemed possible of endurance.
So during the early part of 1898 the laws were modified to
some extent. The length of claims to be thereafter al-
lowed was to be two hundred and fifty feet, a royalty of ten
per cent, should be levied and collected on the gross output
of each claim, and every alternate ten claims should be re-
served for the Canadian government. These are the main
features of the restrictions which the government propose
to begin enforcing with the spring of 1898. How success-
ful it will be remains to be seen.

It will be observed that these regulations add greatly to
the expense of mining on Canadian territory. In the first
place, in order to prospect at all, a man must secure a free
miner's certificate, which costs him ten dollars a year, and
if for any reason he fails to renew it promptly he shall for-
feit all rights to whatever claims he has. When he stakes
off a claim of two hundred and fifty feet along a creek he
must at once have it recorded, and that costs him fifteen dol-

443 THE NATURAL RESULT

lars. To Avork it Juriiiii' tlie winter he must pay something
like a thousand dollars for provisions by the time they have
reached the camp. His fuel will cost him at least five hun-
dred dollars, and timber and appliances for sluicing as much
more. To work his claim successfully he must pay at least
ten dollars a day for all help. If he hires two men his ex-
penses under this head are not likely to be less than four
thousand dollars. Supposing in the spring he is so for-
tunate as to clean up ten thousand dollars. The Canadian
government takes a thousand of it, and his expenses have
used up at least six thousand. He might, therefore, be so
fortunate as to save three thousand for himself, a sum which
would not much more than provide for his necessities for
another year. It is evident, therefore, that placers must
be very rich, and must be worked on a large and economical
scale to meet such restrictions and expenditures.

The natural result will be to stimulate the search for
gold placers on American soil, and if any at all comparable
with those in the Klondike are found, the Klondike will
be deserted in a twinkling, by Canadians as well as Ameri-
cans. If paying mines are not found elsewhere, and the
Klondike region continues to disclose new riches, the re-
strictions which Canada has imposed may lead to difficul-
ties. Of one thing we may be sure ; the laws, whatever they
are, will be enforced. If a royalty is demanded it will have
to be paid, and whatever customs duties are levied upon sup-
plies brought into the country will have to be paid. The
police will see that the law is carried out, even though they
consider it unjust.

One might think that a handful of police could do very
little with the thousands of miners who within a year will
be scattered all through the hills about Dawson, and that

UNCERTAINTIES OP THE MAIL SERVICE 443

if these people took it into their heads to regulate mining
there to suit themselves, Canada could do little to prevent it.
But while there may be dangers in such a possibility, they
are not great. The country is of such a nature that a few
police can hold all the points at which gold must pass in
going out of the country. But what is of more importance,
the people who are there recognize the advantages of police
protection in maintaining their rights against each other.

If any one is looking for a strong illustration of the un-
certainties of existence in this world, he can find nothing
better than the mail service on the Yukon. Some realiza-
tion of its efficiency can be derived from the fact that gold
was discovered on the Klondike creeks in August, 1896, and
that it was not till the middle of July, 1897, that the world
knew about it. It did not learn of it then through the mails,
but because a dozen or more men who had meanwhile be-
come millionaires, or something approaching millionaires,
walked oif a ship just in from St. Michael with several hun-
dred pounds of gold dust. Yet there was supposed to have
been a mail service.

In 1896 the United States made a contract for can-ying
the mails between Juneau and Circle City, and in writing
to the postmaster-general in the fall of that year concerning
his first round trip, one contractor said that he had started
from Juneau on June 10th. He took along lumber for
building a boat, but after the Indians had packed it to the
foot of the summit and taken nearly seventy dollars for it,
they refused to carry it further, and so he had to leave it
there and build a raft at Lake Lindeman. Keaching Lake
Bennett, he built a boat, and finally reached Circlf> Cily.
But he found he could not undertake to pole up the rivci-
alone on a return trip, and so he came out l)y (lie way of Si.

444 LETTERS SACRIFICED IN AN EMERGENCY

Michael. It cost something like six hundred dollars to
make the trip, and some of the contractors threw up their
contracts.

When Dawson was established there was no way to re-
ceive or send mail except by those who happened to be
going in or out. Whoever wished to send a letter would
pay from one to two dollars to one starting out over the
passes, but who gave no guarantee that the lettei's w^ould
be delivered or mailed in the United States. Indeed, it was
always understood that if emergency came, the letters woidd
hare to be thro^ra away. Any one who goes over the trail
will find in many places bits of paper, evidently the frag-
ments of letters which had been sent out in the hands of some
one who could carry them no further, and so tore them up.

Of course, there are many miners around Dawson who
never expect to hear from home, and these men will never
loiow whether their friends or relatives ever received letters
sent them. The missives are started in good faith, and the
man going out agrees to put them in the post-office, but
when he is struggling on the trail nearly dead from ex-
posure and fatigue, hurt by accident, or anything like that,
the situation resolves itself into a question of life or death
for many a traveler. In an emergency he goes into his
pack and throws away everything he can possibly throw
away — probably leaving nothing but a few provisions and
his outfit. Going over the passes and lakes, with their at-
tendant perils and difficulties, is too much for eighty out of
one hundred. They simply give up. It is a crucial test of
strength and grit. The few that pull through know what
it means.

Couriers have left Dawson with great packages of
letters, fully intending to carry them through. On the

A DANGEROUS POSITION 445

way they gave it up in despair, and so, to prevent tlie letters
being found and read, they are torn up or burned.

The experience of two partners who started to make the
trip out shows clearly why a little mail matter may be a
serious addition to the burden. They had dogs and sleds.
One of the men fell into a crack in the ice, and went in over
his head. By a miracle his head came up at the right place,
and his partner pulled him out of a very dangerous position.
By the time he was on the ice again his clothes were frozen
stiff and he was nearly done for. As the sled had remained
on the ice, his partner quickly lighted a fire in the stove —
materials for a fire always being " laid " beforehand —
and cut and tore off the wet garments on the spot. Tlie fel-
low was nearly stripped in an air where the thennometer
registered about twenty-five degrees below zero. Part of
their outfit was lost. If the stove had gone in, it would
have been a serious matter. After that they lightened
their packs.

The destruction of letters was not unusual. In fact,
that possibility was understood by all parties. The guides
who agreed to try to carry a package of lettei*s accepted
the money for the service, but said that if it came to a pinch
they would throw them away. On this basis of chance did
the Yukoners conduct their correspondence with the outside
world. Recently the mounted police have undcrinkcii to
forward the mails from station to station along the trail
between the coast and Dawson.

CHAPTER XXXII

THE SUDDEN RISE AISTD MAGICAL EXPANSION OF SKAG^
WAY — CURIOUS SIGNS FOR THRIVING ENTER,
PRISES — THE DEBATING SOCIETY IN MRS.
MALONEY'S BOARDING TENT — ONE HUNDRED
DAYS' GROWTH.

Seeking an Easier Pass than the Chillioot — Why Gold-Seekers Began
to Stop at Skagway— A Peaceful Scene in July — The Original
Promoters Quickly Overwhelmed — A Thousand Tents and a
Thousand Pack Animals — Organizing the Town — Marvelous
Real Estate Business — How a Hotel Keeper Announced His
Facilities — A More Modest Announcement — "Any Old Thing
Bought and Sold " — Tons of Provisions Scattered on the Beach —
Saloons and Dance Halls — An Opening Night — The Symbol of
Law and Order — Herds of Gambling Men — " An Easy Graft " —
Greenhorns at Packing — Runaway Animals — Many Ludicrous
Scenes — The Serious Side — A Clergyman's Observations — Tho
Part the Women Played — Widow Maloney's Debating Society --
Respect for the Chair — Debating the Merits of Armies of tha
World — Some Race Feeling — Mrs. Maloney Does Not Permit
Abuse of " Ould Ireland" — A Hundred Days of Growth —>
"Biggest " Town in Alaska.

PEltHAPS no feature of tlie rush for the Klondike in
1897 is more significant of the conditions affecting
travel in these northern lands than the stories of the
efforts to enter by the Skagway trail, as told by the few who
managed to work their way through and reach Dawson
early in the winter. It is an instructive chapter, not simply
in the story of the Klondike, but in the annals of human
nature. It is doubtful if there is anything in history to
compare with the sudden rise of the city of Skagway, and

(446)

A CITY OF MUSHROOM GROWTH 447

the trials of the thousands of people who endeavored to
make their way from it over the White Pass to the head-
waters of the Yukon.

Parties from the Pacific coast had for some time been
seeking an easier way to pass into the Northwest Terri-
tory than that afforded by the Chilkoot heights, and one
Captain William Moore, who had been a pioneer in that
region, and had acquired much experience in steamboating,
persuaded, these parties to take hold of the White Pass.
]\[oore's son had meanwhile located a hundred and sixty
acres where the Skagway harbor would necessarily be, and
work was begun to put the pass in shape.

The company proceeded to build a sawmill and a wharf,
and was intending to open a trail when the first news of
the richness of the Klondike awakened the people of the
west coast. One day, when one of the earlier steamers
heavily laden Avith the first of the gold-seekers was steaming
up Taiya Inlet, the captain of the steamer remarked : " I
understand that there is a good trail over the mountains
here, and a better pass than the Chilkoot. It is easier to
land cargoes, too. Suppose I put you all ashore here."

The gold-seekers consulted, and the resvilt was that they
were put ashore. This was on the 26th of -luly, and at that
time Skagway presented as peaceful a scene as any one could
wish. There was one log building and. a tent. In less than
a month, and long before the forerunners had made their
way over the pass, Skagway was a place of two thousand
people, while twice as many more were scattered along on
the trail. It had become a place of a thousand tents and
buildings, mostly the former, and a thousand pack animals.
Saloons and dance halls had sprung up like magic l)nildings,
and were in full blast, and many of those who liiid iirrived

448 A TOWN MEETING

Avitli the intention of going over quickly settled down, either
in despair of getting over at all, or simply to fleece those who
bravely persisted and those who were constantly arriving.

The sudden inpoiiring of people completely over-
whelmed the original promoters of the enterprise ; they had
been dreaming of rich results from the monopoly control
of this trail after being put in shape, but they soon found
that they had nothing to say, not even concerning the site
of the town and harbor to which they supposed they were
entitled.

On August 12th the people held a meeting and organ-
ized a town government by electing A. J. McKinney mayor,
and a committee was chosen to lay out the town in regular
form with streets sixty feet wide and lots fifty by one hun-
dred feet. A law was passed forbidding any man to hold
more than one lot, and he must do fifty dollars' worth of
work on it within thirty days. Within a few days real
estate business was flourishing; lots w^ere being transferred
for from one hundred dollar to two hundred and fifty dol-
lars for such rights as the squatter had. Lots in what ap-
peared to be the business portion were held at high figures,
and few were sold, while more squatters settled back in the
woods, and even down on the tide flats, in ignorance of the
tides that sometimes run up. Some of the business enter-
prises which sprung up in those few days were indeed pic-
turesque. There were restaurants in tents, of course, but
some of the signs were very pretentious.

A Seattle man, who started for the gold fields in August,
and who was, like so many othei's, caught at Skagway, de-
voted his energies to running an improvised hotel, the an-
nouncement of which was conspicuously posted as follows on
the " outer gates " :

SIGNS PRETENTIOUS AND UNPRETENTIOUS 449

Holley House, Holleywood.

Skagway, Alaska.

Hotel and cottages; The Most Delightful Health Resort ou the
Coast of Noi'th America.

Cusine and Accommodations First-Class.

Six Cottages in Connection With the Hotel.

Barber, Billiards, Bath, Private Supper Rooms, Music in the palm
garden adjoining the dining room.

Charges from |2 up according to the location of the rooms.

Meals a la carte. Private Suites. Extra charges for meals served
in rooms.

Note — Anybody kicking about looking-glasses or pillows will be
" trun."

Some were more modest, however, as, for instance, one

man who had pitched his tent in a rough spot in the midst of

trees. On a line stretched from his tent to one of the trees

hung a pair of okl light-colored trousers, and painted on them

in large letters was the word :

" MEALS."

On a large sign on the outside of one tent was a legend
announcing to the passers-by that they could there buy or
sell " boats, horses, provisions, outfits, or any old thing."
Horse-shoeing was a great industry, and there were too few
who understood it. In one shop four men were kept busy,
so busy that they had no time to straighten up their acliing
backs. But they received large prices, five dollars for put-
ting on an old shoe. All prices for services were " uyt in tlie
air." Men charged two dollars and fifty cents for swim-
ming a horse ashore, two dollars for landing a boat, four
dollars a ton for lightering freight. Camping sites were
ruling at ten dollars a week.

In less than two months more than one thousand one
hundred locations were being made, and the town of tents
began to give way to the town of frame liouses. I'lic trail

450 A SIGNIFICANT SYMBOL

wae not ojH'ii, and not even the correct distance was known,
before the eager throng was crowding wuth horses, goats,
oxen, and mules hitched to carts, wagons, and drags, and
carrying pack saddles loaded with flour, bacon, beans, dried
apples, and hay. Already the saloons and dance halls were
np and ready for patrons. Tons of stuff were scattered over
the beach, and shiploads strung along the trail. Lumber
was in great demand, and lots selling as high as one thousand
five hundred dollars.

The first dance hall was opened a few hours after the ar-
rival of one of the steamers laden with people bound for
Klondike, about the middle of August. A Juneau man
had put a piano aboard, and, having secured quarters, he
had a great opening, taking in one hundred and thirty-four
dollars the first hour from drinks alone. On the outside of
the dance house was a tree to which was hung several sig-
nificant notices, and from one of the limbs dangled a one-
inch rope with a noose, put there as a warning or symbol of
law and order by the Vigilance Committee, and it was quite
effective against high crime. Three of the notices read :

" Free Dance To-night."

" Packers Wanted on the Trail. Apply to Mack &
Company."

" Saddle Hoi-ses Wanted — Xo Cheap Hatracks."

Of course herds of gambling men hurried from .the
Pacific coast to set up at Skagway, and, for a time, every
kind of a game was running in the most open manner. As
one of ihem expressed it, it was the " easiest graft " on
earth. But as the place grew the citizens regulated these
enterprises and order was fairly well maintained.

" Skag^vay," said one man, " reminded me a good deal
of a circus town, there were so manv tents. It looked a

NEW TROUBLES AND ANNOYANCES 453

g'ood deal as Cheyenne did in the early days. Eating
booths were scattered all about. The saloons were made of
boards loosely thrown together. You could almost throw a
cat through the cracks. There are some very curious and
interesting signs painted on boards and stuck up outside the
tents to announce the business of the occupants. One that
particularly attracted my attention read : ' Hot bread and
stamps for sale.'

" On arriving, people made reconnoitering trips over a
portion of the pass, returning full of exuberance at the easy
time they would have in getting over. They were right in
this at that time, but they reckoned without their host.
They did not know of the trouble in store for them in get-
ting their stores and belongings off the boat. It took nearly
a week to get things sorted, and then there was the greatest
jumbled-up mess one ever looked at. Many of the goods
were damaged much by water. It would have taken a
Philadelphia lawyer to straighten things. When the in-
dividual outfits were finally distributed, new troubles hap-
pened, caused chiefly by the inexperience of the people
themselves. Men attempted to pack horses who liad never
before in their lives seen a pack; the horses were new to the
business, and more than once I have witnessed sights that
convulsed me with laughter, and at the same time caused a
feeling of sadness for the poor chaps whose troubles would
almost drive them to desperation. A greenhorn (we were
nearly all greenhorns) would pack his horse down witli
flour, beans, and other things too numerous to mention,
and tie them on any way, when all of a sudden there
would be a kick, a buck, and the next instant a maddr'iicd
horse would be running over tents and through the lilUc
27

454 AN ENERGETIC YOUNG WOMAN

city, scattering beans and flour in all directions. Some-
times it would take a wliole day to capture tlie horse. It
was such thing's as these that caused many a fellow to sell
his outfit for anything he could get and return to civiliza-
tion.

" This, though, was the ludicrous side, many things
occurring on the trail, when the mud in the meadows was
knee-deep, that would drive the stoutest-hearted man to
despair."

A clergyman who came in over the trail said that
when the history of the present excitement should be writ-
ten up, woman's part in it would form a chapter of special
interest. " Along the Skagway trail," he said, '' I was at-
tracted by the sound of an axe in the wood, and, going in its
direction, I found there, all alone, a slim woman about
twenty years old, felling trees and building a cabin. I took
a snap-shot picture of her before she knew of my presence.
She told me that she and her husband started for the Klon-
dike, but, not being able to proceed, her husband opened a
saloon till spring, and wished her to serve in it. This she
positively refused to do, but, being willing to take her part
in the struggle, she determined to build a log cabin and
sell it when the rush was on. I gave her a lift with a few
logs she had ready for the wall, and left, feeling that she was
a noble woman and a true wife.

" There were hundreds of idle men, grudging every day
the food they ate, and impatient to reach the diggings.
Many of them were quarrelsome and given terribly to pro-
fanity. Therefore, I suggested that we might get together
and form a debating society. It would at least take our
minds off our monotonous surroundings and help pass away
the idle hours. This w^as agTced to, and Widow ]\Ialoney's

THE SKAGWAY DEBATING CLUB 455

restaurant was selected, being the largest tent in the camps.
The time for discussion was to be anywhere from 4 to 10
P. M. The chairman was to take his seat when the boarders
got throngh snpper, abont an hour after sundown, and pre-
serve order as the disputants came and went at pleasure.
The audience, too, was free to come and go as the spirit
moved, and no objections were to be raised by the chairman
if in the heat of passion any one went a-scattering lead from
his revolver, for it was conceded by all that the only two
governments which in any event could interfere were those
of the United States and Canada, and as these bodies them-
selves did not know which had jurisdiction over Lindeman,
it was evident that moral snasion alone could be appealed to.
The question then came up, AYho had enough of this com-
modity on hand to preside over the turbulent crowd? Sev-
eral were suggested, but they were objectionable, because
on the feast provocation they might open a blazing battery
from the seat of authority. Finally, I was made supreme
spokesman in Mrs. Maloney's restaurant, presumably be-
cause of a meek and lowly appearance. On taking my seat,
however, at the first meeting, I presented a rope, and, hold-
ing it before the astonished audience, assured them that
while I might be living in a place without political rule, I
would hang by the neck, on the pine tree outside, every
mother's son of them who did not respect the chair. This
had a soothing effect, and the lion, the lamb, the kid, and
the calf huddled together for a while in sweetest harmony.

" One evening the subject of debate was, 'Is Prosperity
Coming or Going in the United States? ' Tlie discussion
at times was very animated, as all the political parties of the
country were represented, and each claimed that his, and liis
alone, could give the people the horn of plenty. Tlie cut-

456 A WAR CLOUD THREATENS

down in the New England factories was freely talked over,
and it was generally agreed that cotton operatives in the
States are only befooled by the politicians w^hen they
promise them anything. Their only hope lies in them-
selves, When they agree, Xorth and South, to work only
for living wages and uniform hours of labor, they may think
as little of politics as they do in other countries. Not
pauper labor in Europe, nor political parties in America, are
at the root of the present troubles.

" Another evening was given up to the discussion of the
merits and demerits of the several armies of the world.
This was the liveliest night of all. Men from all nations
w^ere present, and, of course, each reckoned his owm best and
bravest. The Englishmen thought there was nothing on
earth that could stand up before the redcoats, and the Irish-
men present declared that that was so because there were
no Saxons inside. The Celtic race alone made the* British
array respected. An Englishman pertinently asked ' If
Irishmen were such fools as to fight for the greatness
and glory of old England?' 'They have to, or starve,'
cried a dozen voices. Paddy Sheehan, however, got into
hot water when he attempted to prove that it was the
Irish that fought and conquered in the late "VVar of the Re-
bellion.

" A Rhode Islander present was so cruel as to charge
against poor Paddy's race in reply, that the only time it dis-
tinguished itself was at the first battle of Bull Run, when
they made the quickest time on record to the other side of
the Potomac. This led to pulling of revolvers, and for a
time there was a threatening war-cloud over the head-
w^aters of the Yukon. It capped the climax, however, when
a Canadian boastingly declared that there was a fragrant

AN IRISHWOMAN IN THE MOON 457

smell to the English rose and a piercing sting to the Scotch
thistle; but nothing but a butterfly would either love or fear
the shamrock.

" Up to this point Widow Maloney took no part in the
discussion ; but to sit still and hear a ' hathen f urn'r '
speak disparagingly of the emblem of her dear land was
more than she could stand, and, taking up a stick that lay by
the stove, she made for him, shouting, ' An' is it ould Ire-
land ye're abusin', ye blackguard ? '

'' To pull his gun on a woman would have been sure
death to the Canadian, and he knew it. He also knew that
to stand up or sit down was dangerous, and therefore he put
himself outside of Widow Maloney's tent quicker than I
can tell. Everyone who had said anything slightingly of
the Irish race, or of Ireland, was now profuse in his apologies
to Mrs. Maloney. But Jack Rogers, from Chicago, went
beyond all others in exalting Ireland, in that he declared
there was a woman in the moon, and that he believed her
to be an Irish maiden, for she had a shamrock on her breast.
The idea of a woman being seen in the moon was such a
novelty that the meeting adjourned to see her. Every one
who witnessed the new and strange sight that night will
never forget it, and, as for Mrs. Maloney, her anger was
charmed away by the thought that perhaps in the moon
there were Irish maidens who bore the shamrock, and her
wounded feelings were healed by the assurance of all present
that the woman in the moon was not either Canadian or
British, and most likely was a daughter of one of the kings
who reigned of old in Tara's halls."

It will be diiRcult for people of staid eastern towns of
slow growth, or no growth at all, to realize the extent of
the mushroom expansion of Skagway. As I have said, in

458 A HUNDRED DAYS' GROWTH

the last week in July, it was a quiet nook in the dreary liills
with a log hut and a tent near the flat beach.

In one hundred days there was a substantia] town of five
hundred frame and one liiuidrctl log buildings, besides tents
scattered all through the woods. Many of the buildings
were of two stories and some of them of three. Among the
enterprises which were flourishing were :

A wide-awake six-page weekly newspaper — the SJcag-
icay Keu's.

A church and schoolhouse combined, seating capacity
three hundred persons, built by contributions from all de-
nominations.

A private post-ofiice.

Three wharves for heavy-draft vessels, costing twenty
thousand dollars each.

An electric light system was being introduced, and a
city water system, consisting of a simple board flume,
brought an ample supply of good water from a lake on the
mountain side.

A jail was built, and sundry United States government
officials, including a United States commissioner, with a
number of doctors, lawyers, etc., were among the citizens.

Skagway could accommodate one thousand eight hun-
dred people at the hotels and lodging-houses. A three-
story hotel, fifty by one hundred feet, was in course of con-
struction, capable of accommodating four hundred people.

In three months it had become the " biggest " town in
Alaska.

CHAPTER XXXIII

DIFFICULTIES AND HORRORS OF THE SKAGWAY TRAIL
— PRECIPICES OVER WHICH HORSES TUMBLED —
A LIFE FOR A SACK OF FLOUR AND A LITTLE
BACON.

An Impussable Trail — The Blockade — Stories Brought to Dawson —
Principal Features of the White Pass Route — Slippery Places for
Horses — Over Precipices into the River — Porcupine Hill —
Where Most of the Horses Were Lost — The Sight of a Life Time —
Death on Summit Lake — Efforts to Open the Trail — All Kinds
of Pack Animals — Scarcity of Fodder — Selling Hay and Throw-
ing in the Horses — The Big Marsh — Floundering in the Mud —
Thieving on the Trail — Looking for Pierre, the Frenchman —
Discovered with Stolen Goods — Appealing to Hearts of Stone —
Six Shots Sounding as One — The Limp Form of a Thief Hanging
by tlie Wayside — A Heap of Stones Cast on the Body — Chances
to Make Money on the Trail.

THE immediate cause for the rise of Skagway was the
apparently reasonable assertion that the White Pass
was much easier to go over than the Chilkoot Pass,
the latter being about a thousand feet higher than the
former. But the secondary and main cause for the growth
of Skagway was the fact that, from the first, the White Pass
route was well-nigh impassable. In the firet place, the
people had rushed in before the trail was ready. Severn]
thousand people set out to take Xature as they found her in
Alaska, and then discovered that she was utterly unmanage-
able. The pass might have afforded a comfortable route for

(459)

400 A GRIM JOKE

the few wlio were acqiiaintccl with the conditions of trails,
and familiar with the requirements of packing, but when
several thousand people endeavored to pass over in midsum-
mer, with all sorts of rigs, with horses, mules, and oxen, they
found it an impossibility. The result was a blockade.
Only a small number of those who started reached even the
summit of White Pass. The great majority simply settled
back, and made Skagway a booming town for no better
reason than that its inhabitants could not get out of it. I do
not believe that history can show a grimmer joke than that
town. It had not the slightest reason for existence in that
desolate region, except as a gateway to an entrance which
could not be forced.

The stories which were brought into Dawson of suffer-
ings on the trail were vivid and stirring, though, to tell the
truth, we had very little sympathy for the eager crowd that
was endeavoring to come in. Most of us had been in Alaska
long enough to know that it is very difficult to secure a suf-
ficiency of food when only a few are in the country, and we
realized that, if the crowd at Skagway got through, there
would be an enormous number of mouths to fill with com-
paratively few provisions in sight for the purpose. By the
time we began to hear the stories of the Skagway trail it had
become sufficiently evident that the only salvation of Daw-
son for the winter was in the White Pass proving impass-
able. We regarded the stories of the difficulties of that
trail, therefore, with a sort of selfish satisfaction.

Unlike the Chilkoot Pass route, which is a constant
ascent, ending with a steep climb to the summit, the White
Pass route is a succession of hills, so that a great deal of
waste climbing is done, ]-)robably enough to make up for the
difference in altitude, which, apparently, is in favor of the

DIFFICULTIES OF THE WHITE PASS 463

White Pass. The trail was constructed something on the
principle of a huge trap. For the fii*st three or four miles
it looked very easy and attractive. For this distance there
was a wagon road over which horses and wagons would meet
with little difficulty. Then the Skagway, which is a shal-
low stream, though very swift, had to be crossed. Some of
the first pilgrims had constructed a rude bridge of logs over
which but one horse could pass at a time. Wagons had to
be unloaded, horses led carefully over, then the wagons
drawn over and reloaded. From this bridge wagons could
be used three miles further, when what was quite appro-
priately dubbed Devil's Hill was encountered. Here the
trouble began. The trail was not over two feet wide, and
at the top of the hill horses were compelled to make a jump
of two feet high and alight on a slippery rock. At one
place there was a path up a steep incline on which logs had
been laid, fonning a sort of ladder.

" When you get to the top of it you are five hundred
feet above sea level," said one of the few who came through
safely. " The hill is very rocky, but I was careful to make
notes of its condition, and there is no reason why a moun-
tain climber should not put his horse over there with com-
parative ease. iSTotwithstanding that fact, T found a dead
horse on the pass. I examined it and found that it liad
broken one of its legs. The owner had no more use for it
and killed it. After leaving the first hill you descend,
entering a canon, when another hill is encountered with a
rise of eight hundred feet.

" The path over it, or, rather, around it, should not be
dignified by the name of trail. It is less than two feet wide
at many places, and the walking, especially for hoi-ses, is
the worst imaginable. The formation on the surface is a

404 ON POKCUPINE HILL

soft, slippery, slate rock. The path winds its crooked way
around the mountain, while below it drops oft" sheer five hun-
dred feet to the river. This is the place where so many
horses and packs have been lost.

'' One pack train of seventeen horses lost eight of them
down this slide on the first trip over. The footing is all that
a clear-minded, strong-nerved man would care to encounter,
and it is practically impossible for such horses as are there
to pack any considerable amount of supplies around this
bluff.

" On the farther side of Porcupine Hill is a place where
one must be very cautious. Boulders from four to ten feet
square are met with. One must work around the corners of
these boulders to get down in safety. It took me about one
hour and a half. I went slowly, picking my way, as one ac-
customed to mountain climbing will do, and had no difficulty
in reaching the foot of the hill. I was careful to note the
dangers that a horse would encounter, and I say that a horse
can go over Porcupine Hill all right if the person handling
the animal knows his business. Inquiry satisfied me that
the death of many horses was due solely to the inexperience
of those in charge. The packs are put on the backs of the
horses with gross carelessness, and wdiat is the result? It
is up hill and down hill, and around boulders, and before
the journey is accomplished the packs begin to slide, and
the horse's burden is thus increased threefold. A slip is
made, the pack gives way, and the animal goes down to its
death, or breaks a leg and is killed by the owner, who curses
his luck and starts back for another horse.

" Following this place is what is known as First Bridge
Hill, which covers a distance of three miles. Then comes
the hill called Summit Hill, four miles of as tough climbing

A HOPELESS TANGLE , 465

as one ever saw. It was on this hill that the great loss of
horses occnrred. The trail runs along the side of a rocky
mountain, where a misstep will send an animal from five
hundred to one thousand feet below. On the side of nearly
all thes3 hills the liquid mud was two feet deep, and in some
places it ran like a stream. There were sharp rocks and
round rocks, and great slabs of granite down which the
hoi^ses slid into mud holes.

" Half the people are greenhorns and don't know how
to pack a horse. They pile on the load, and when the horse
gets to a bad place, the pack hits against the rocks, and, of
course, makes the horse step out to keep his balance. Down
go his feet, and over goes the horse. I saw one mule turn
three complete somersaults, and the owner never went after
either the mule or the packs. You can see dead horses and
lost packs all along down the precipice, and all mixed up to-
gether. 'Why don't they go after them?' Well, it
would take them a week to go down there and bring up a
pack. It's two thousand feet down there in some places.
Some men, after packing heavy outfits over seventeen miles
of this trail, sold out for enough to pay their fare back to the
United States.

" It was a sight such as one would not care to see more
than once in a lifetime. Horses, tents, feed, supplies,
and men were piled together is an apparently hopeless
tangle. A drizzling rain was falling most of the time.
Stubborn fires were smouldering and sputtering, and men
were standing or wandering about as tliough they were
dazed by the obstacles ahead. I couldn't help noticing the
tired, haggard look on almost every face that T saw, as
though the load of anxiety and care was more llian tliey
could endure."

466 BRAVE STRUGGLES ALONG THE TRAIL

Summit Lake is about a mile wide and six miles long,
and near the middle is a tall, rocky inlet which, in rough
weather, is noted for the breakers which dash upon its
shores. One foggy moniing, shortly after a party had
started on its journey, a squall sprang up, and not being
able to make out their bearings in the fog, their little boat
was driven straight upon the rocks. She capsized and
threw the three men into the icy water. One of them im-
mediately sank and was never seen again. The other two
struck out for the shore and finally reached it, though one
was so exhausted that he had to be dragged out of the water.

There were any number struggling along the trail who
w^ould have turned back had it not been for their pride.
All those poor fellows worked as they had never worked be-
fore, and w^hen they finished were wet through with per-
spiration or rain, or both. When night came, they lay
down on the damp ground. By morning they were too stiff
to move at first, but, when they got around to it, another
hard day's work followed. All along was strung a line of
struggling horses and cursing men, picking their way over
and around rocks, logs, and dead animals.

Completely balked by this impassable mountain barrier,
with the prospect of spending a long Alaskan winter on an
inhospitable sea coast, where blizzards and storms have free
play for over four months of the year, the six thousand or
more gold-seekers at Skagway finally combined to close the
trail and assail it with dynamite which had been brought
up from Juneau. So an army of about two hundred men
started in to open it for all. ISTotices were posted all along
the trail warning miners to get out of the way under penalty
of punishment. Fp to this time but five parties had suc-
ceeded in getting over the summit, and the other thousands

THE FEW WHO SUCCEEDED 467

were strung all the way along from the coast for fourteen
miles into the mountains of the interior. From time to
time steamers arrived loaded down with other gold-seekers.
When in a few days the trail was reopened it soon became
as bad as ever.

After a time the stench from dead horses became so
offensive in Skagway that a mass-meeting was held to plan
for the abatement of the nuisance. As a result a great num-
ber of bodies were gathered together and cremated.

One passenger said that up to October not more than
twenty complete outfits had reached the lakes over the Skag-
way trail. " A majority of those who got through," he
said, " had not more than two hundred or five hundred
pounds of outfit. I knew one man with only one hundred
and seventy-five pounds. On the summit snow is now fully
six feet deep and the fall continues quite heavy. There are
some of the miners who will make an attempt to get in with
sleds and dog trains, when snows have covered the trails,
and the lakes are frozen. No one has been getting in of
late, and, in fact, very few have attempted to do so, for
the trail is in such a bad condition that it is absurd to think
of doing so."

Every description of pack animals could be seen on the
trail, from the family driving horse and the trick mule,
down to the smallest Mexican burro. It was impossible to
hire any packing done, and only an option on a horse after
the owner w^as through with him could be obtained, and
these sold for ten times as much as the animals Avere worth
anywhere else. Two people who hnd an option on four
little cayuses for four hundred dollars, to be delivered in
one week, dead or alive, were shortly afterwards offered six
hundred dollars for them.

4.08 FLOUNDERING IN THE MARSH

AVhen this sort of thing had been going on for a little
time, horse feed became scarce and horses were at a dis-
count. Early in September a man could pick up a good
horse for ten dollars. A party which, during the season of
hio-h prices had rushed back to the United States and secured
a few horses, found, when they returned, that they could
not be sold. So they loaded their horses with fodder, which
was at a great premium, and started for the summit. Reach-
ing there they sold the feed for eighteen dollars a sack and
threw the horses in, so they got out of the dilemma very well.
But by the time the hay was l^rought up to the hungry
animals waiting for it, the other animals met on the trail,
by each taking a passing nip, had reduced the quantity by
about fifty per cent. The horses are fond of birch leaves,
but they soon contracted mud fever, and, as they were in-
sufiiciently fed and not sheltered at all, they soon became
worthless. They really died from lack of care. Horses
were a good deal better on the Skagway trail than burros,
although the best thing of all was an ox, which was A'ery
good for muddy traveling, and could carry a big load. The
burros taken up were almost a failure. They were good
over rocks, but no good at all in the swamp, which forms
about two-thirds of the entire distance.

Those who succeeded in working their way past these
obstacles found themselves finally at the big marsh. Of
this no adequate description is possible. It is a terror for
packers. A horse flounders and rolls in the mud, until he
either gives up from exhaustion, or else tears his pack loose,
or breaks a leg. ]\Iany of the miners were camped on this
bog, which is a mile and a half long, waiting till the freeze
of winter covers the ground so that they could get across.
The ground was soft and springy, and very muddj' even be-

LUMBER THROWN AWAY 471

fore it was trampled up. A man went to his knees in the
mud, and a horse wallowed to his belly. After crossing the
marsh the trail is much the same as in the earlier stages, up
and down over a continuous chain of hills and mountains.

At times the gold-seekers were encouraged to believe
that there was a betterment, owing to the men's efforts to
corduroy the bad places, and the occasional glimpse of sun,
but a night's rain would undo it all, and the morning would
show it worse than ever. The horses floundered over the
boulders and through the mud, which is nothing more than
decomposed vegetation, and broke their legs. Then they
were shot or knocked on the head. Lack of animals, and
particularly the fact that it is impossible to move supplies,
led many to split up their outfits and Iiurry on Avith barely
enough to last them until they reached the river camps.

People who had flattered themselves that they had suf-
ficient foresight to take in lumber to be put together for
boats after crossing the pass, found that the proper thing to
do with it at Skagway was to throw it away. One man built
his house entirely out of lumber which had been intended
for lake boats, and which had cost nearly three hundred dol-
lars in the United States. This Skagway man picked up all
he wanted of it for eighteen dollars a thousand, and much
of it cost him nothing. Owners were glad to give it away to
get it off their hands.

Towards the end of the season, when thousands of men
and animals and tons of freight were scattered along the
trail, thieving began. Some who had sold their outfits at
Skagway, and pushed on light-handed so as to get through,
began to appropriate new outfits on the other side.

A party of prospectors had, after great hardships, packed
their goods over the worst part of the Skagway trail, lind

472 A THIEF DETECTED

caelicd them, and were inoving- tliem by relays to the lakes.
Some of the goods it had cost thirty dollars a hundred to get
over. One day, about the middle of August, they missed
from their cache a sack of flour and one hundred pounds of
bacon. They had taken no precaution against theft, be-
lieving that under such conditions as exist in Alaska a man's
property would be held sacred.

Immediately upon discovering their loss they notified
the other miners in the vicinity. A meeting was called
at once. Each gold-seeker felt that his sack of flour might
be the next to go, and it was agreed that a food thief was as
dreadful an enemy as a murderer. Food to these men was
life. A committee of six vigilantes was chosen by lot to
search out the criminal and punish him, the penalty to be
death.

In a tent near the summit lived a Frenchman known
only as " Pierre." He was low-browed, dark-visaged, and
surly. He had no friends and seemed to desire none, while
his doubtful manners and appearance made him an object of
suspicion and dislike. At dusk of the day on wdiicli the
loss was made known the vigilantes climbed to the summit.
They went silently and paused when near the tent for a
whispered consultation. Approaching still nearer, tliey
saw that a dim light was burning within, and upon the
canvas was cast the grotesque shadow of the Frenchman.
He was stooping close to the ground.

" He's burying the grub," whispered one of the vigi-
lantes.

Leaving two men outside, four entered the tent. One
was the prospector who had been robbed. Pierre started
up at the appearance of his visitors. His movement for a
gun was arrested by a sharp word of warning, and he stood

THE PUNISHMENT OF PIERRE 473

as though petrified, his eyes riveted on the muzzles of four
revolvei-s.

There was no need of searching further. In a rude hole
dug in the hard earth in the center of the tent lay the sack
of flour and the bacon. The owner recognized the marks
and identified them as his property. Without a word the
Frenchman was seized, and with stout ropes, brought along
for the purpose, was tied hand and foot. He begged
piteously for mercy, and his black whiskers stood out on a
face pale as that of a corpse. He appealed to hearts of
stone. There was no softening light in the eyes of his cap-
tors.

They carried him out, and to a pole before his fragile
habitation they lashed him fast. All six withdrew a short
distance, and, at a word, six shots rang out, sounding as one.
Then the vigilantes left.

A life for a sack of flour and one hundred pounds of
bacon!

The limp form, bleeding from six wounds, hung there
all night, and the next day it was there, and the next. Over
the trail, a short distance away, passed many men. When
they looked toward the lonely tent and saw its sentinel they
averted their faces and hurried by. Even the horses shied,
seeming to feel a nameless horror in the atmosphere. Late
on the afternoon of the third day two men stayed in their
journey to finish the work of the vigilantes. They un-
bound the body and dragged it further up the hill. They
could not wait to dig a grave, but they piled stones high
above the body and left it there. The lonely cairn is a
warning to others who, like Pierre, hope to reach the Yukon
with no other outfit than light fingers.

While this terrible struggle was taking place on the
28

47-4 A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY

Skagway trail, the route by the Chilkoot Pass remained
open, and hundreds went over. But the prices for packing
were enormous. The Indians and professional packers
(juickly raised the price to thirty and even forty cents a
pound, and many threw their outfits away rather than pay
such rates. Others who had money were willing to pay
almost anything, so great was their haste to get through,
while many who had the sense to proceed more moderately
took advantage of every opportunity for making money.

A man named Johnson had early in the season managed
to get himself and family over the Chilkoot Pass, together
with a small knockdown boat. When he reached Crater
Lake he determined to cut off part of the distance around it
by putting his boat together and ferrying his supplies.
"While loading his boat a man came along and offered him
ten dollars for a lift over the lake. Johnson said he was not
in the ferrying business, but, if he had room when his own
goods had been loaded, he would do so. He found that he
had room, and while loading in the stranger's effects an-
other came along and offered ten dollars for a lift over the
lake. The result was that Johnson made forty dollars that
afternoon after two o'clock.

Xow, when an old Yukon miner strikes a placer capable
of yielding about one hundred dollars a day by hard work,
he regards himself as one of the lucky men of the earth.
The early pioneers had wintered with the blizzards and
summered with the mosquitoes, and up to the discovery of
the Bonanza had barely made enough to pay for their sup-
plies. And here Johnson with his knockdown boat had a
Klondike shoved by Fate right under his nose. He had
sense enough to see it, and to take advantage of this golden
opportunity. Many were so anxious to get to Dawson and

A HUNDRED DOLLARS A DAY 475

pick gold off the bushes that they wouldn't have seen a
chance twice as big.

Johnson just set up his tent and established his family,
and announced that he was the only ferryman on Crater
Lake. In thirty-one days he made three thousand dollars,
and meanwhile his wife had broken open some of their sup-
plies and was making pies that sold like hot cakes for a dol-
lar each. Later in the season Johnson sold his little boat
for three hundred dollars, and bought a larger one and a
new stock of supplies from those who were anxious to drop
a part of theirs, and made his way to the Yukon, where he
was in plenty of time to get a good claim in one of the pay-
ing districts. Some of those who had iiished by him had
spent a lot of money, more than they would earn in a long
time working at fifteen dollars a day, and working hard,
and they had allowed their provisions to be reduced. Then,
caught in the ever-shifting eddies of the stampedes, they
rushed here and there staking claims, some of them doubt-
less securing good ones, but it was as yet unknown, and their
claims were no better because they had hurried. Those
who came later had the same opportunities, and meanwhile
had been picking up the money which the others had
dropped.

CHAPTEK XXXIV

THREATENED FAMINE — STORES OF THE TRADING COM-
PANIES CLOSED — STEAMBOATS STUCK ON THE
YUKON FLATS — THE PERILOUS SITUATION REAL-
IZED.

Miners Hasten to Secure Provisions — Companies Fear Speculation in
Food — Eggs at $4 a Dozen — Good Mining Claims Traded for
Provisions — Candles at a Dollar Apiece — Waiting Three Hours to
File an Order — The Trading Companies Confer — Doling Out
Provisions — The Steamboats near Fort Yukon — Fruitless Efforts
to Get over the Bar — Captain Hansen's Efforts — Returning to
Dawson — Watching the River for the Steamboats — The Situation
Realized — Plenty of Whisky, but Little to Eat — Police without
Supplies — The Warehouses Threatened — Police Contemplate the
Necessity of Seizing Provisions — Fancy Prices for Dogs — Mine
Owners Threatened by Failure to Pay Debts.

AS soon as the old miners became aware of the great
rush from the States which was threatened, they
hastened to the storehouses of the different com-
panies to secure their supplies for the next winter. This
began as soon as the first provisions arrived, and the result
was that the greater part of the cargoes were sold as fast
as the boats came to Dawson. A little later the companies,
instead of turning over the provisions, took orders and the
gold dust for them and kept tabs on the buyers, something
as rations are distributed in army camps. Prices were not
raised by the companies, but it was evident that the threat-
ened scarcity would gTeatly enhance the price of such pro-

(476)

PREVAILING PRICES 477

visions as found their way into the hands of the people, and
there were evidences that many who had plenty of money
were calculating to buy from the companies all they could
and hold for speculation. It was largely to shut off specula-
tion of this kind that the companies adopted the system of
doling out provisions in small lots, carefully noting how
each man was taking.

Curious instances of the value of food came to light
every day. Two men arriving early in June brought in four
hundred dozen eggs,, which they had collected on the way.
Within eight hours they sold nearly all of them at four dol-
lars a dozen in gold dust, and they had a fair working capital
right away. Bacon was then selling at sixty-five cents per
pound, but flour held at twelve dollars per hundred; indeed,
flour seemed to be the cheapest article, except gold, on the
market.

When the question of supplies began to assume a very
serious character many bright men who had brought in large
outfits saw a chance to dispose of a part of them for interest
in claims. Old miners who could not secure provisions
enough for the winter, and who realized that it would be
cheaper and better for them to dispose of a part of their
rights for food rather than leave their claims and endure
the dangers of a journey up or down the river, made such
arrangements, and it was a very fortunate thing for some of
the newcomers.

Some of those wlio had thrown away their jirovisions
on tlie passes, or had disposed of them earlier on the trnil
in order to get through, then saw men who had arrived
somewhat later pick up choice claims that their money
would not have bought. One fellow liad six boxes of
candles, wliieh were very scarce. He sf)hl off a lot rtf lliciii

478 LINING UP TO BUY PROVISIONS

at n dollar cacli, and obtained besides some good interests in
claims on (^^uartz and Hunker creeks.

Too many on their arrival at Dawson made no prepara-
tions for the winter, and it was difficult to make them realize
the kind of weather that was before them. There was
plenty of work, and money in abundance, so everything
looked rosy to many who were so constituted that they
would have difficulty in taking care of themselves any-
where.

When the stampede " for grub " really began it had
about the same effect on the stores which a run has on a
bank. They closed their doors, and but one was open for
sales in small quantities. When the last two steamers up
arrived from St. ^Michael bringing about a thousand tons of
provisions, extra offices were opened to receive winter
orders, and the rush to get them in resembled the opening
of a box-office sale for some great theatrical attraction.
Hundreds stood in the long lines. One man told me he
waited for three hours before he could get his order in, and
then he did not receive the goods, though he had to pay cash
in advance. The orders, however, were guaranteed. All
this time men were coming in daily, many of whom, in the
rush and the difficulty of getting over the passes, had thrown
away their provisions or sold them at Dyea or Skagway, ex-
pecting to stock up at Dawson.

The day before the steamer left Dawson, the North
American Transportation and Trading Company closed its
doors. A notice was posted announcing that nothing would
pass over its counters until the arrival of another steamer
with supplies.

But the days passed and no steamer came. The people
eagerly watched the river, hoping to hear the familiar

STEAMERS GROUNDED ON THE BAR 479

sound of tlie whistle announcing one of the little steamers,
and to see it come around the bend of the stream, but they
waited in vain.

About the middle of August the two companies had a
conference and they estimated that there were about five
thousand five hundred people then in the Klondike district,
a large number of whom were wholly without outfits and
unprepared for the winter. The North American Com-
pany had four hundred paid orders unfilled, and no pro-
visions there with which to fill them. The Commercial
Company had about five hundred paid orders, one-third of
which had been filled, and there was enough on hand to fill
about fifty more. Plenty of provisions, they said, were
down the river, but the water was very low. They did not
know then that the boats were stuck below Fort Yukon, and
could not possibly get up. At the Alaska Commercial
Company's office a crowd sometimes numbering fifty was
daily lined up in front of the doors, begging for an ()])])or-
tunity to purchase sustinence for themselves and their part-
ners at the mines. As fast as one man was waited on, the
doors were unlocked and another admitted. Then the click
of the locks would be heard, bolts would slide to \)\aco to
prevent a raid from the desperate men, and a sack of flour
with a few pounds of bacon would be doled out. T^To one
could secure much more than enough to sustain life for a
few weeks. To those who were preparing to leave, food
enough was given to last them over the trail to salt water,
if everything went well. Everything possible was being
done to get people to leave.

During the first two weeks in September several at-
tempts were made by no less than four steamers to cross the
1)ars abovf^ Fort Yukon. They failed sim|)ly because it is

480 CAPTAIN Hanson's fruitless errand

impossible to get a three-foot steamer over a twenty-two-incli
bar, that being the depth as measured. Even had they
gotten over the bar the situation would not have been
greatly improved, for they were carrying in men who would
need most of the provisions they had aboard.

Captain Hanson went down from Dawson on a steam
barge expecting to pick up the barge of another steamer,
and on his arrival at Fort iTukon he loaded his own
barge with a cargo. He made the most persistent at-
tempts to get over the bar so as to return, but failed.
Half the cargo was removed for a second attempt, but that
failed. Then he started with no load at all, but that time
also failed, so uncertain are these bars in the bed of the
Yukon. His steamer drew but twenty-four inches.

Having thus failed to return with an empty boat, the
captain deemed it his duty to return to Dawson and inform
the i^eople of the situation. He left the fort in a patched
bark canoe, and the next night was obliged to send Indians
back with the following message:

" The bottom dropped out of canoe and only my shoul-
ders are dry. I am at the cache twenty-eight miles above
Fort Yukon. Get another squaw canoe and send it up as
soon as you can."

There was no other canoe to be had, so an arrangement
was made w^ith two fellows who were going up the Yukon
to pick Hanson up.

Day after day the people at Dawson watched the river
for the steamers wdiicli they thought must surely come.
The toot of a steamboat whistle w^ould have brought the
whole population to the river bank, eager to welcome the
arrival of the much-needed supplies. The river, which had
frozen over a little once, opened again, and many w^ondered
what was the trouble.

LITTLE FOOD, BUT PLENTY OF WHISKY 481

On September 26tli Captain Hanson arrived in his In-
dian canoe, and told the people that it wonld be an impos-
sibility for the boats to get up before the river closed for
good. Then the situation dawned upon them in all its ap-
palling reality.

Men who had been exulting in their success, and were
counting upon returning in the spring with sacks of gold,
suddenly realized that to remain till then they must run the
risk of starvation. In the saloons, which were the public
resorts, men congregated and talked over the situation.
There was whisky enough. Large as was the consumption,
there was the fact that a full winter's supply of liquor had
l)een brouglit in somehow, but not half enough food.

Among the more industrious miners who wished to stay
and work their claims the disadvantage of having so many
non-producers in the place was very apparent, and there
was a feeling that such should go, if any. Three or four
liundred gamblers and sporting men had come in during the
summer, and some advocated driving them out and dividing
the provisions equally among the workers. The thirty
mounted police at Dawson, who were practically without
food for the winter, were said to be openly in favor of such
a step.

Up to the first of September the new arrivals had aver-
aged from three to twenty per day, and there seemed to be
every prospect that this rate would be continued far into the
winter. The old miners, and those used to the Yukon win-
ters, began to appreciate the dangers of the coming situa-
tion. When the river rose a little, winter was settling
down, and doubts were entertained as to the possibility of
more boats reaching Dawson. Tlicrf were at least three
hundred men working in the gulches, and in (lie hills were

482 THE RIVER TO BLAME

several prospectors who knew nothing of the situation, and
wonhl not till thev came in for provisions. They were de-
pending- on the company stores for supplies.

The situation became the great subject of discussion in
the city of cabins and tents. It was evident that a large
number, even a thousand, could winter safely at Circle City,
four hundred miles below, for to that place they could draw
their supplies from Fort Yukon by dog teams. There were
at least five hundred people who intended going down the
river to St. Michael, and from there home, but when that
avenue was closed earlier than expected by the freezing of
the river, some other steps had to be taken, for some of these
had already sold off their stock of provisions and could not
buy them back.

There was considerable complaint that the trading com-
panies had allowed whisky to take too large a place in the
cargoes of their Yukon boats, and there was no doubt as to
the large quantity brought in, but there ^vould have been
serious complaints in various quarters had this failed to ar-
rive. Had the river permitted the boats to come up there
would have been provisions enough for the people to have
worked through the winter somehoAv.

It was estimated that during the summer there had been
brought to Dawson about eighteen hundred tons of food,
clothing, and other merchandise. Meanwhile, nearly every
one on Circle City, Forty Mile, and Fort Cudahy had come
to Dawson. It was estimated that there were something like
six thousand people in the city and about the adjacent coun-
try who expected to depend upon Dawson for supplies.
Boats were arriving at the rate of five a day, and each aver-
aged about three passengers. jSTot more than one in ten of
these parties carried provisions enough to keep them through
the winter.

THE SITUATION BECOMES ALARMING 483

At Fort Yukon, about three hundred and twenty-five
miles from Dawson, there was about six hundred tons of
provisions. The question was a very simple one. As
" grub " could not be brought to Dawson for everybody,
some of us must go down to Fort Yukon for it, or go out by
the coast and winter in the United States.

Captain Hanson gathered the miners together and made
a short speech to the effect that it would be vain to hope for
the arrival of the river vessels, and that his company had
done the best it could to supply the increased number of
mine-owners, but that there were still more than two hun-
dred and fifty unfilled orders on their books. All he could
do was to advise people to go to Fort Yukon, where there was
plenty of food, and live through the winter. He told them
they could find employment there cutting cord WQod for the
use of the steamers next year. He had, he said, done all he
could to relieve the situation, and had it not been for the
thousand people who had rushed in without sufficient sup-
plies all would have been well.

The situation as regards the other company was as bad,
or worse. Indeed, the company, in anticipation of the ar-
rival of the boats, had taken a lot of orders, and with them
the miners' money, and when the time came they could not
be filled. There was much grumbling. Some spread the
idea that the company had a good stock of provisions, but
were holding off for speculation, and the warehouse was
threatened for a time. Only the fear of the Canadian
police prevented an attack upon it. But it became evident
that the companies had no stores to speak of. The only
thing that could possibly be bought Avas sugar, baking-
powder, spices, and a little dried fruit.

Major Davis, in command of the police, said: '' Tn-

484 VALUABLE MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY

stances have occurred in this territory before when supplies
ran short, and it was necessary to form police and civic com-
munities to seize all provisions in camp and issne weekly
rations. It was done at Forty Mile post two years ago.
Tlie necessity for similar action is beginning to be apparent
in this case, and I wonld not be surprised to see an uprising,
and the non-producers ordered to leave the camp and go
down the river to Fort Yukon, where there is plenty of grub,
and the provisions in this camp seized and distributed. My
force is destitute of winter supplies."

Apparently, it would have required only an uprising of
this sort to have secured the co-operation of the police. An-
other unpleasant phase of the situation consisted in the lack
of dogs, and provisions for them. Any one would have
said, to have seen the swarms of dogs which were always a
feature of Dawson, that there were altogether too many for
a camp facing starvation, but these dogs were kept busy
most of the time going to and from the mines, dragging
slabs for the fires to thaw the frozen ground, and logs to
build miners' cabins. And when it became evident that
there would have to be an exodus on accoimt of the food
situation, dogs were w^orth their weight in gold.

To add to the complications, a good many of the mine-
owners were deeply in debt for claims they had purchased,
the obligations, which bore an enormous rate of interest,
falling due the next May or June. They had leased some
of their claims on lays, and they were quietly falling back
and waiting for the lessees to dig the gold out to liquidate
their indebtedness by the time it became due. The men
on lays, unless they had been so fortunate as to provide a
sufficient stock of provisions, were in time compelled to
throw up their profitable contracts and run with others for

IN A POSITION TO DICTATE 485

food. This left some mine-owners in a very threatening
position, for they might have to turn the property back to
the mortgagees.

September 13th a large number of the owners held a
secret meeting at the junction of Eldorado and Bonanza
creeks, and promulgated a notice to the effect that after
October 1st, and to June 1st, the wages for miners would be
one dollar an hour, instead of one dollar and fifty cents.
But in less than twenty-four hours the situation changed,
for the men who had food could almost dictate their wages
and the owners were glad to get them at fifteen dollars a
day. There was the possibility that they might have to
pay more.

CHAPTER XXXV

THE GREAT EXODUS FROM DAWSON — DOWN THE RIVER
TO CIRCLE CITY AND FORT YUKON — SAD FATE OF
SOME OF THE EXILES — A BURIAL UNDER THE
ARCTIC SKY.

A Great Day in Dawson — Drawing Lots to Determine WTio Should
Go — The Restaurants All Closed — Effort to Go Up the River
Thirty-five Miles in Seven Days — The Party Finally Returns —
People Pouring in While Others Were Pouring out — Arriving
With Worthless Outfits or None at All — Swept By Dawson in the
Running Ice — Petty Larceny Becomes Frequent — Food Scarce at
Circle City — Men Arrive from Circle City Badly Frozen — Suffer-
ing on the River — Exiles Badly Frozen — Sad Fate of Y'oung
Anderson — Wounded, His Friends Dragged Him on a Rude
Sled — Dying within Sight of Circle City — Thawing an Arctic
Grave — The Funeral — Extracts from His Diary — Strong Miners
Weep — The Scarcity of Supplies — A Restaurant Price List — A
Fresh Supply of Caribou Meat — Curtailing the Work on the
Mines — Those Left Pull Through.

THAT was a great day at. Dawson when the miners
fully realized the situation and immediately began
to make their calculations for the wdnter. After
the government officials had posted their bulletin warning
the miners to get out of the country if they valued their
lives, many of the men pooled what provisions they had and
drew lots to decide who were to remain for the winter and
who were to attempt the trip to Fort Yukon or the coast.

It was a question which were taking the greatest risks,
those who remained prepared to spend several months on

(486)

THINNING OUT THE POPULATION 487

short rations, or those who faced the hard thirty-days trip
with just enough provisions to last them if not delayed, for
those to whose lot it fell to leave the country were grub-
staked for the trip. In this way the population was thinned
out Some who had to go started for Fort Yukon, and
others for the coast. Later, others started out for Fort
Yukon, hoping to get back to Dawson with supplies.

The exodus was stimulated by two facts, the first being
that there might be a famine if all stayed, and the second,
that those who had provisions, and at the same time had
claims, could sell their provisions at greatly advanced prices
to those who wished to stay and work. Thus they were in-
sured a profit on what they could bring in on their return,
and a profit from the working of their claims while they
were out.

The restaurants all closed in the fall, though one ran on
for several days on a supply of beefsteak which sold at two
dollars and fifty cents a meal, and the meals were not large.
A man with a truck load of potatoes, flour, and bacon couhl
have bought a good interest in any of the rich chums of the
richest streams. A little steamer named Kiii]:iil\ which
was to run up to the Felly River where the Dalton trail
begins, was called into service by men who oifered as high
as two hundred and fifty dollars to be taken aboard for her
journey of one hundred and seventy-five miles. She was
as crazy a craft as there was on the Yukon, about fifty feet
long, and of thirty horse-power only. She was old, rickety,
and pretty much broken down. She had just before made
two trips up to the Felly, taking over eight days at eacli trip.
Ordinarily, one would not have cared to make a sliorl I rip
on her in smooth water, yet tlicre were severiil iiicii wlio
actually wanted to pay a big price for lier to hike licr down

iSS A YUKON "GREYHOUND '

the Yukon to St. Michael. They were persuaded from this
foolhardy undertaking, and so they obtained her for the trip
u]) the river to Selkirk, expecting to take the trail there.

She left with about fifteen passengers, and in a few days
back they came to Dawson. They had spent seven days on
the steamer and had gone only thirty-five miles. Ilcr
machinery broke down from one to three times a day, and
she had a faculty, strong in any Yukon steamer, for con-
stantly running aground.

On one occasion, but apparently through mismanage-
ment, she was driven head-on to a rocky shore where her
bow was violently torn away and her frame severely shaken.
But for the double protection in her bows she surely would
have sunk. At the end of the seventh day, suiTounded by
an ice pack, the trip was given up and they returned. The
only thing left was to drift down the river, or, if wanting to
get out of the country entirely, to pole up the stream with
its freezing waters and floating ice. ]\[any Avho had had ex-
perience on the stream, and had a few provisions, preferred
to wait and make the trip after the river Avas thoroughly
frozen and the snow, wdiicli now was falling, had grown
hard.

It would have been an amusing scene, had it not savored
so much of the pathetic, to watch the people who were pour-
ing into Dawson from the trail, while others were pour-
ing out the same way. These people had suffered all man-
ner of hardships on the journey, and many of them, in their
haste to get over, had disposed of their outfits. Their im-
pression seemed to be that so long as wages were fifteen dol-
lars a day, they could not want for anythtng. It was some
time before they could be made to understand the peculiar
difficulties of the situation. They could not get over the

AN APPALLING PROSPECT 489

impression that where there was so much gold there must
be enough to eat.

It is a pitiable situation when men are huddled together
in a little place in the Arctic regions, in need of food, offer-
ing any amount of money for it, and unable to get it because
there is no chance for any to come into the country for six
or eight months.

Few of those who came in had packed their outfits cor-
rectly. Each month's supplies should be put up separately
and labeled, and then if one loses a part of his supplies the
variety is not sacrified. Many lost their flour and saved
their baking-powder, or vice versa. Provisions should be
put in water-tight sacks of not over fifty pounds each. The
covering should be made of good ducking, capable of being
handled roughly, of standing out in the rain, if necessary,
and of not being torn by limbs, snags, and the like. Many
a man reached the river only to find his beans damp, flour a
pasty mass, and his dried fruit fit only to give to the all-
devoimng dogs.

Many boats, containing men who had been working for
many days and enduring great hardships, came floating-
down the river in the ice and were unable to make a landing.
Once eight boats loaded with provisions, but with no pas-
sengers, went floating by. The owners had doubtless left
them to go ashore and camp for the night, and meanwhile
the ice had broken and taken the boats down the river. Tt
was useless to try to reach the boats at that time.

Matters assumed a very serious aspect by the middle of

October. There were over a thousand people, including

women and children, living in tents in Dawson, and they

were arriving at the rate of seventy-five a day. Many of

them had provisions enough to last them onlv a part of the
89

490 A FROST-BITTEN POET

winter. A heavy snow was falling, and beans, flour, bacon,
and other provisions were selling from one dollar and
twenty-five cents to one dollar and fifty cents a pound.
The few head of cattle which Dalton had brought in over his
trail only temporarily relieved the situation.

Petty larceny began to be frequent in a place where but
a little before a man could leave anything lying about with
safety. But no one stole gold. People were stumbling
over that and never thinking about it. They began to steal
from caches. One man was detected in stealing from a
cache and shot through the leg, but he was not a thief
naturally. The food situation had made him desperate.

Altogether about nine hundred people had left Dawson
by the first of December, and as nine-tenths of these had
hardly more than three months' provisions, the situation at
Dawson was considerably relieved. So many went down to
Circle City or Fort Yukon that many began to fear that
they Avould need all the provisions at the latter point, and
that the spring supply for Dawson would therefore be late
in coming up. When the heavy detachment reached Circle
City the stock there at once became so short that most of
them had to procure sleds and continue their journey, the
river being frozen. The hundred or so people at Circle
City were calculating to send to Fort Yukon for provisions.

Joaquin Miller, the poet of the Sierras, who had been
among the summer arrivals, reached Dawson from Circle
City on December 4th, very badly frozen, having lost a part
of the great toe of his left foot, his left ear sloughing off,
and both cheeks frozen. He had left Circle City wnth a
party thirty-five days before without dogs, as there were
none left there. They worked along all right till tliey
reached Forty Mile, where they encountered a blizzard.

SUFFERING AND FORTITUDE 493

From that place they endured all manner of hardships.
Circle City was not a bed of roses for the miners there.

Reports, he said, had reached Circle City of miners
being frozen in between Dawson and that place. One
miner was brought in so badly frozen that he had to have
his feet amputated. Such was the fate of some of those
who had left Dawson just before the winter's fury set in.

Among those who had started down the river in boats
was a young man named Anderson, who belonged in Brook-
lyn, N. Y. On the way down, and when seventy miles
from the nearest habitation, he accidentally shot himself in
the abdomen. He pushed on with grim determination,
though suffering great agony, but when thirty miles from
Circle City a cold snap came on and froze the river. The
party with him saw that it was necessary to abandon the
boat, and so they rigged up a rough sled and started to pull
the wounded man over the ice. It was terribly cold.

Day by day his strength failed, and dreary were the
camps they made on the frozen shores of the river. His
two companions toiled bravely on, but he kept sinking
lower and lower, and when almost within sight of their
destination he passed away. Two hours later they drew
the body into Circle City on the rude sled.

Out in the little cemetery was piled a heap of wood,
and soon it was blazing fiercely in the Arctic winds; for
graves must be dug here — if they are dug at all — as gold
is mined, by thawing the ground. As night settled down
the glowing coals shone out brightly in the darkness. More
wood was heaped on, and little by little the grave was sunk
in the icy soil.

Then came the burial. There was no minister, no choir,
no melodious anthem, no words that told of the Christian's

404 THE DIARY READ BESIDE THE GRAVE

hope in a glorious resuiTection. Rough miners carried the
body to its last resting place, and as they stood there rev-
erently some extracts from the young man's diary were
read. He had kept it almost to the last moment, and there
were many references to his mother, to his home, and his
hardships, and between the lines could be read a record
of the indomitable courage and the filial love of the man
who had sought his fortune on the Yukon.

Strong miners, muffled in their heavy winter coats, stood
\vith tears in their eyes while the words were read, and then
the frozen clods were shoveled into the icy grave. There
are other graves on the Yukon — many others. And there
are dead without graves.

There was a party of two or three hundred between
Forty Mile and Circle City when the river suddenly froze,
and they were compelled to abandon their boats and push
on, almost wholly unprepared for the hardships of such a
journey. Some of them suffered severely. Ten or a dozen
women were subjected to the ordeal of losing their boats
and taking the long, wearisome tramp to Circle City in the
biting cold.

The prices of all supplies continued to rise till they were
hardly within the reach of those who had not rich gold
mines to depend upon. Flour was wortb from seventy-five
dollars to one hundred dollars for fifty-pound sacks; beans,
one dollar and fifty cents a pound; candles, one dollar and
fifty cents each, and very few of them at that; fresh fish,
one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound, and very scarce.
Cooking utensils, too, were none too plentiful, men satisfy-
ing themselves with pieces of tin for frying pans and old tin
cans were in demand as coffee pots and for other cooking
purposes.

Meals,

$3.50

Coifee, tea, or chocolate.

.50

Sandwiches,

.75

Boston baked beans, ,

1.00

Pie and cake.

1.00

WORK IN THE MINES DELAYED 495

This was the sign hanging over the counter of one of the

Dawson restaurants early in December :

Ham and Eggs, . . . 5.00

Porterhouse steak, . . 5.00
Cove oysters fried, and ham

and eggs, , . . 9.00

In the latter part of November a large band of caribou
crossed the Yukon a few miles below Dawson in the migra-
tion from the headwaters of the White and Copper rivers,
and Dawson hunters went out and killed about fifty head.
This supply of meat was a great relief, and it sold at good
figures. Of course meat can be kept in prime condition all
winter in such a climate. Though game was scarce it could
be found in small quantities if hunted for, and men who
were hungry would take their guns and start on hunting-
expeditions, seldom, however, going far from camp.

The inevitable result of the scarcity of food and the
exodus of people was to delay work in the mines. It was
useless for owners to attempt to work their shafts unless
they oould secure provisions, and there were many cases
where men who had begun to take out of their shafts many
hundred dollars a day, on coming down to Dawson and find-
ing that their bags of gold could not buy the ordinary ijeces-
sities of life, at once departed either for the coast or for
points down the river. The newcomers who had reached
the city with barely enough provisions to feed a canary bird
were, of course, of no use in the mines. But the exodus
was so great that those remaining were left with a fair
chance of pulling through, which is about all any one can
expect to do on the Yukon during the winter. From time
to time some little additions in the way of meat were made to
the supply.

CHAPTER XXXVI

DISCOVERY OF GOLD ON MUNOOK CREEK — THE SUD-
DEN RISE OF RAMPART CITY — THRILLINO EXPERI-
ENCE AND LOSS OF LIFE ON THE MOUNTAIN TRAIL.

A Rival to Dawsou and the Klondike — American Territory Preferable
— Old MuDOok and Little Munook — Taking a Fortune from a
Small Hole — Stream Prospected Before — The First Excitement —
Stampedes from the Arriving Steamboats — Beginnings of Ram-
part City — Arrival of the Hamilton — Crew Stampedes and Takes
the Knives and Forks — A Literary Woman's Rush for a Claim —
Settling in the New Camp — High Prices for Claims — Taking
out $1,500 in Five Days — The Fever of Speculation — Wealth of
a Man with a House and Lot — High Price of Timber — The
Rough Trails — Fatal Experience of Two Yale Graduates —
Spending the First Night on Hoosier Creek — Taking Food for
Only One Day— A Terrible Night— Tucker Falls Exhausted —
Running for Help — Secured at Last — Returning to Find His
Companion Dead — Buried in the Wild Gulch — Situation of
Munook — High Value of Its Gold.

OXE important result of the inability of the river
steamboats to reach Dawson, and the consequent
shortage of provisions there, was to turn the at-
tention of gold-seekers to ]\Innook Creek, on the lower
Yukon. Those who could not reach Dawson from St.
]\richael, and those who, having' reached it from the coast,
could not stay but went down the river, were naturally at-
tracted to the new region. Xow that public attention has
been turned towards the Yukon valley, the sudden rise of
new mining camps and new cities may be expected, for the

(496)

OLD munook's find 497

country has a wealtli of gold-bearing streams wliicli have
never been properly prospected, and many promising ones
have never even been explored. While the sudden rise of
Dawson was phenomenal, it soon had a dangerous rival, and
that on American territory.

It is needless to say that experienced miners will prefer
gold-bearing streams on American territory if they can be
found of a richness to compare with the Klondike, If the
Dominion government insists on the restrictions she has
ordained, mines on American territory, which are consider-
ably less rich than those in the Klondike, will prove more
attractive, for they will yield larger net returns. In view
of these facts, the rise of Kampart City in the vicinity of
the Lower Ramparts of the Yukon in the fall of 1897 can
occasion no sui'prise, and it would not be strange if the pre-
dictions made as to its rivaling Dawson should be quickly
verified.

An old Indian by the name of Munook, a Russian half-
breed, found large quantities of gold on the creek which
now bears his name some time in August, 1896. Accord-
ing to the story on the river, some Indians had informed
Munook that they had seen gold on a branch of the creek,
and with his son he started in. In a short time he had taken
out three thousand dollars' worth of gold from a hole eight
feet square and fifteen feet deep. The stream bad Ix^en
prospected in a superficial way for years, and while gold
was always found, it had not been in sufficient quantities,
for the conditions were the same here as in other Alaskan
fields. A. layer of muck covers the gravel from a few
inches to two or three feet in thickness; in winter it is like
adamant, and in the summer like axle grease that lias been
exposed to the sun.

408 BOLTING FOR THE MOUNTAINS

Old Munook and his son worked on quietly, taking out
considerable gold, but nothing was known about it by ex-
l>crienced miners till the boats began to run on the river in
the spring of 1897. The evident advantages of the situa-
tion lay in its nearness to the base of supplies, and several
miners made their way up the creeks and at once struck
good pay-dirt on Little Munook and another tributary which
was called Hunter Creek.

The first excitement was when a steamboat loaded with
people bound for Dawson reached the mouth of Munook
Creek. Miners there were looking for supplies, and when
they told what they had found, the excitement was so gi'eat
that many of the passengers bolted for the mountains at
once, also many of the crew. The principal creeks were
staked for some distance, for the law which the miners had
instituted allowed claims of one thousand feet in length,
and from five hundred to a thousand feet in width, accord-
ing to the nature of the valley.

Observing that as many as a hundred men would winter
there, the Alaska Commercial Company made preparations
to supply them with food. But when the next steamboat
came up there was another st-ampede, some fresh discoveries
having been made, and so many of the crew left the boat,
carrying away the knives and forks, that ,the passengers left
were compelled to resort to their fingers in eating. On
bed-rock two and four dollars to the pan had been dis-
covered, and nuggets worth ten and twelve dollars had been
taken out. The miners were at work clearing up a sightly
place high up from the river for a town site, and in hardly
any time there was a town of tents there. The Commercial
Company began building its log warehouse, and everything
promised to thrive. "WTien the steamer Hamilton, after

THE RISE OF RAMPART CITY 499

continuing on her way up the river, went aground a short
distance from the new city, many more of the men came
down decided to settle in the new camp. Many claims were
staked off quite near the city, but little could be done except
at bar diggings before winter came.

By the first of September the discovery claim on Little
Munook had sold for five thousand dollars, and Rampart
City was a cluster of tents on the hillsides, but the Com-
mercial Company were finishing up their building and the
newcomers were busy putting up log cabins. The popula-
tion was then three hundred and increasing with every boat
that came up the river. Ten days later all figures and
values had quadrupled. One claim on Little Munook was
held at fifty thousand dollars, for the owner of the adjacent
claim had taken out one thousand five hundred dollars in
five days, and had not reached bed-rock. The news spread,
and in a little time the recorder had taken in over two hun-
dred dollars in registering claims, and people were clamber-
ing over the hills in every direction. A literary woman
from the Pacific coast who had started for the Klondike
was infected by the excitement, jumped oif the boat when it
reached Rampart City, and rushed for a claim, taking the
trail like a man, and sleeping on the ground with her
blankets wrapped about her.

Gradually the population approached a thousand, and
the fever of speculation was rife. Real estate offices were
opened and the scenes enacted at Dawson a little earlier were
repeated. Had there been iio KloiKlikc, which bad become
a sort of shibboleth on every one's lips, the discoveries on
Munook would have been enough to have created a rush
from the States, for the creeks and gidclics are uniiiislak-
aldy rich. On one claiiu two thousand dollars were taken

500 A BOOM IN REAL ESTATE

out while siiikiiic; to bed-rock. On another, two men took
out six huiuh-ed dollars in six days, and the top gravel
seemed to be full as rich as that in the Klondike district, ac-
cording to reports of men who had had some experience in
both places.

Xone of those who left the United States later than the
first of August to go by the water route arrived at Dawson
City, but they were frozen in all along the river. Those
who reached Munook Creek, however, were fortunate. By
the last of September, a man who owned a house and lot in
Kampart City counted himself worth two thousand dollars.
Every fresh boatload rushed up the creeks to stake out
claims, and many large transactions took place. By Octo-
ber the new town had a population of over one thousand
souls, including several w'omen. Lots w'ere selling for as
high as one thousand two hundred dollars, and any kind of
a cabin for eight hundred dollars. The Indians were paid
nine dollars a day and board for building cabins, while the
wages of men in the mines ruled at iifteen dollars a day.
The real estate boom rather outstripped that of the previous
year at Dawson. The value of lots and buildings sometimes
increased tenfold in a very few hours. The reason for the
excessive price for building is that there is no wood to speak
of nearer than eighty miles.

The trails over the mountains to the creeks were no ex-
ception to such routes in other mining regions. Indeed, if
anything, they were a little worse, for the country had not
been so traversed by Indians. A mile seemed as long as
five miles in any ordinary country. It was a wild and pre-
cipitous region, and in going from one creek to another it
was necessary to cross great divides, tearing through the
brush or stumbling over niggerheads. Unfortunately, as

A TERRIBLE UNDERTAKING 501

at other places of mining excitement, people rushed in with-
out any adequate idea of what they were to encounter, and
without sufficiently providing for such a journey. Only a
dozen miles or so over the hills seemed easy.

One September morning three young men started for
Hoosier Creek, about twenty miles away, to locate claims.
Their names were H. B. Tucker of Troy, IST. Y., J. P. Powell
of New York city, and George M. Reed of Boston. It was
raining when they set out and growing colder, and the trails
were getting worse every hour. After traveling about
seven miles Reed sprained his leg, and, finding that he would
be unable to continue the trip, he left the party and made
his way back to town.

Tucker and Powell proceeded on their way and reached
a cabin at the mouth of Hoosier Creek, and spent the night
there. They were wet through, and as there was no stove in
the cabin they dried themselves as best they could before
an open fire at the door of the cabin. Friday morning they
started for the head of the creek. They left their blankets
and all their food, except barely enough for one day, hav-
ing been told that they could make the trip and get back to
the cabin by evening. The cold rain continued all day.
The creek became very much swollen, and traveling up the
gulch, wading through icy waters, and wandering through
the swamps and brush was a terrible undertaking, especially
for men without experience in the country aiul Avithont
knowledge of the conditions. The two finally made tlicir
way to the headwaters of the creek and staked their claims,
but by that time it was night and they knew it would be ut-
terly impossible to make their way back through the dark-
ness.

When they had started in the morning Tnckor hnd ])iit

502 ANOTHER TRACiEDY

the day's provisions in liis liantlkcreluef, and he lost tliem
while wading- the creek. All they had left was four hard-
tacks and a piece of chocolate to divide between them.
Most of this they had eaten during the day.

These two exhausted men had a terrible night to face in
that wild gulch with the cold rain pouring steadily down on
them, without food, without shelter, without blankets or
covering of any kind except their soaked and half-frozen
clothes. About tw^o o'clock in the morning the rain turned
to snow, and by dawn the ground was white. Tucker slept
a little through pure exhaustion, but Powell was awake all
night. As soon as light came, the latter urged Tucker to
start dow^n the creek before the snow became so deep as to
make walking impossible. Tucker made a heroic effort to
respond to Powell's appeal, but after proceeding a little way
his knees gave out and he fell. Powell put him on his feet
and they started once more, but Tucker's strength was all
gone and he fell again and again, and finally could go no
further. He grew delirious and at last became unconscious,

Powell, after doing everything in his power to get
Tucker down the creek to shelter, found that it was im-
possible, and at about seven o'clock, seeing that the only
chance to save Tucker's life was to get assistance, he placed
him in as comfortable a position as possible and started down
the creek shouting for help and firing his revolver to attract
attention. His hope was to find a party of friends who had
talked of coming up Hoosier Creek that day. He was
finally successful in his quest, but not till some hours had
passed, and one of the party immediately started back with
Powell to find Tucker, carrying food with them. They
reached him about one o'clock, but they were too late. The
poor fellow was dead.

A PROMISING GOLD FIELD 503

Marking the spot, tliey came down the creek to the
cabin, where Powell rested that night, and made his way
back to Rampart City the next day. A party set out to the
place where Tucker died and he was buried there in the
wild and lonely gulch, as it was impossible to bring his body
in until the trail was in a better condition.

Tucker was a graduate of Yale in 189-1, and his father is
editor of the Troy Press. Powell was also a Yale graduate.
The trouble in this case was that they miscalculated the dis-
tance that they could travel in a day, and went utterly un-
prepared to spend a night in the mountains.

One may realize something of the dangers of traveling
on Alaskan trails from incidents like these. Considering
the number of people who have rushed in without any
proper understanding of what tramping on these trails re-
quires, it seems a miracle that so few have perished. Yet
the death roll is by no means a short one.

Munook Creek, which promises to be one of the richest
gold fields in Alaska, runs into the Yukon about nine hun-
dred miles below Dawson. It is situated below the bars
which obstruct vessels, and if the rich prospects already
found continue, its chances for development are very much
greater than those of Dawson. There are a number of
small creeks flowing into the Munook, and upon nearly all
of them gold has been found near the surface. Even if
it is less rich than the Klondike it may pay better, and cer-
tainly people there will run less risk of starvation.

The Munook gold which has been assayed has boon
found to be of much greater fineness than that of the Klon-
dike, which has proved something of a disappointment to
those who have brought large quantities of Klondike gold
to the mints. Munook gold yields about eighteen dollars

50i THE DIFFERENCE IN FAVOR OF MUNOOK

to tlie ounce, while Klondike gold averages about sixteen
dollars to the ounce. The difference on twenty-five pounds
would buy a man a winter's outfit in Alaska. Taking into
consideration the Canadian restrictions as to the size of
claims, as to royalty, and customs taxes, together with this
difference in the intrinsic value of the gold, a man in the
Klondike would have to take out at least thirty per cent,
more gold in weight than at Munook to net the same return,
while living expenses at Munook should be much cheaper.

CHAPTEE XXXVII

WE DECIDE TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY — INCIDENTS OF
A HARD JOURNEY IN WINTER TO THE COAST —
THE DEATH OF JOE — MY ESCAPE.

Preparing for the Winter — Our Gold Dust — Returning to Dawson
We Realize the Food Situation — We are Unable to Secure Pro-
visions for the Winter — Selling Our Claims and Counting Our
Fortune — Down or Up the River? — We Decide to Return for
a Good Outfit — Dogs an Expensive Luxury — Encountering
Wrecks — Difficulties at Lewis River — Picking up Tales of
Hardship and Suffering — Hardships of a Man with Poor Dogs —
A Young Man with Frozen Feet Left to Die in a Hut — A Young
Woman Rescued from Death — Lashed to a Sled — We Arrive at
the Cafion — A Cry from Joe — Into the Icy Rapids — Last of
Poor Joe — I Sit Down and Cry — My Awful Predicament — Pro-
visions, but Nothing Else — A Sad and Lonely Journey — A Tent
Buried in the Snow — Saved! — " Got Any Grub ? " — Kicking the
Dogs out of the Snow — Over the Chilkoot in a Blizzard —
Homeward Bound — " Poor Joe ! "

DURING the summer and fall of 1897, or wliile tlie
events narrated in the preceding chapters were oc-
curing, Joe and I did what we could on our Klon-
dike claim, much time being spent in preparations for drift-
ing the coming winter. Our spring clean-up, while not
large, because we had been nimble to work as extensively
as others, and because we had poor luck in finding the pay-
streak and were compelled to sink several holes before strik-
ing rich dirt, was still good enough to provide us with a

(505)

506 CONSIDERING OUR DEPARTURE

ooiufortablc ainouiit of gold di;st. AVliile only the large for-
tunes suddenly amassed by the few who had worked large
fractions of their claims attracted attention, we, neverthe-
less, congratulated ourselves upon our good fortune, know-
ing that our money was in the ground and could be taken
out, if we chose, in the winter. When we returned from
our somewhat unpleasant trip to the Indian River district,
we at once became aware of the situation as to the food
supply at Dawson, and, as we had neglected to lay in pro-
visions early, we realized that our hopes of a prosperous win-
ter might be dashed to the ground. We hurried down to
Dawson and found affairs as already described. It was im-
possible to secure a full stock of provisions for the winter,
but any one who would leave the country could get enough
for the trip. To those who insisted upon staying a little
was being doled out, with the understanding that when
enough time had elapsed for its consumption another batch
would be sold. The possibilities of speculating in food sup-
plies were carefully guarded against.

Joe and I reflected and consulted. We had experienced
a touch of famine the previous winter when but a few people
were in the Klondike, and we did not look forward with any
degree of satisfaction to the possibility of something worse.
It was necessary for us either to stay to hold down our
claims, or to find some one who would work them on shares.
It Avas easy enough to find among the eager newcomers men
who would make such an arrangement, but as they had no
provisions to depend upon, and knew scarcely anything
about mining, they would be able to do little work.

It so happened at that time that the excitement over the
Indian River district was at a high point, and we had a good
offer for our claims there and also the claim on Bonanza.

WE DECIDE TO GO TO THE COAST 50?

Joe and I lit our pipes and thonght. There were many
points in favor of the bird in the hand.

" But there may be millions in those mines," said Joe.

" Possibly," I replied. " We don't know about that,
but we do know that there's a lot of frozen muck and gravel
and hard work in them. And we know, too, that by next
April we might be willing to trade one of them for a hun-
dred of flour."

We smoked and thought a little more, and concluded to
take the bird in the hand. We reckoned that when we got
the money we should have about twenty-five thousand dol-
lars apiece.

"We can afford to have poor luck for a year or two," I
said to Joe. " And I don't feel as if we were selling our
birthright, for there is plenty of gold to be found in Alaska ;
better diggings, I'm thinking, than these British moose
pastures, especially if the government concludes to take a
large share of the profits."

The next question was whether we should go down or up
the river. Joe was inclined to take the former course, but
as his claim in the Birch Creek district was being worked,
and as we heard rumore that there was little food to be had at
Circle City unless it was sledded from Fort Yukon, we de-
cided that we would go out to the coast and in the spring
bring in a big outfit. Outfits are always profitable, and we
thought there was money in the scheme.

But we were in no hurry, for we wished to wait till the

ice had become solid and the trail a little packed. We got

together our stove, tent blankets, and other necessities for

the trip, and took life easy. So many small parties had

been going out that dogs were extremely scarce. T]\v jiricc

had started at one hundred and fiftv dollars, but lind <n<iii
30

508 FAREWELL TO THE KLONDIKE

risen to two hundred dollars, and when we began to think
about them they were worth about two hundred and fifty
dollars. We smoked and thought again.

"With good dogs we figured that we could reach the coast
in about thirty days ; without them it w^ould take about forty
under good conditions. But Alaskan travel is uncertain,
with or without dogs. One thing, however, was certain;
the dogs would eat up a good part of what they w^ould draw
before they reached the coast unless we made remarkably
good time, so we concluded to save our money, even if we
lost some time, and draw the sleds oui-selves.

So one morning late in Xovember we bade good-bye for
a time to Dawson and the Klondike, and started for the
coast in a blinding snow storm. The mercury bottles were
frozen solid. The river was rougher than the rocky road
to Dublin. It had frozen once, then broken up and frozen
again so that it was all humps and bumps, and the only way
to maintain a tolerably smooth course w^as to cross back and
forth where the way seemed to open out best. In spite of
every precaution the sleds were continually overturning
while we were slipping and sprawling. Parties with dogs
fared even worse. The dogs could go anywhere, but the
sleds followed them sometimes right side up, but more often
on one side. Many sleds were broken. Soon many of the
dogs had badly lacerated feet, and in some cases they were
frozen, so that we were rather glad we had concluded to de-
pend upon ourselves, though the dog teams quickh' got
ahead of us and others overtook us.

All the way from Dawson to the mouth of the Pelly
River the river was so rough that dogs were hardly able to
haul more than enough to last them to the coast, and it was
hard, cold drudgery for Joe and me. In some places the

MILD WEATHER 509

ice was piled fifteen feet high. All the way along we en-
countered the wrecks of boats which had been abandoned
when the river closed, the parties pushing on with only
barely enough to keep them alive on the trail.

We worked along slowly, and when we had gone a dozen
miles it seemed as if we had gone a hundred. Men with
frozen cheeks, noses, fingers, and feet were encountered,
and occasionally one in a very bad fix, but we managed to
get along very comfortably till we came to the Lewis Kiver.

The current of this stream is so rapid, and the weather up
to this time had been so mild, that it was only partly frozen
over, and in many places it was full of rushing and crushing
ice cakes. When I say mild weather I mean, of course,
mild for Alaska. As a matter of fact, the mercury had not
thawed for a couple of weeks. We speak of mild weather
up there in the winter when it averages about fifty below
zero. Wherever the ice jams were, the ice was piled in
cakes as high as six-story buildings, sloping up gradually on
one side and breaking off in sheer precipices on the other.
It made it much easier traveling coming out than going in.
The current setting down the river runs the ice in such a
way that the slope is toward Dawson. In coming out the
slope can be climbed first, and then the precipice can be
descended, but in going in these precipices arc encountered
face to face.

The greatest hardships were endured here on this long
stretch of country, both by those going out and by those
who had bravely made the effort to reach Dawson. One
could hear tales of suffering every day, but every one who
was getting along fairly well had no time for the troubles
of others, although in severe cases great kindness was
shown.

510 HARDSHIPS BY THE WAY

There was one man who had started out early in a boat
and had been compelled to return to Dawson, where he
finally secured a dog team. At the foot of Lake Lebarge he
slipped and fell and sprained his leg. He had plenty of
provisions, but his team made poor time, and he was suf-
fering great pain. lie offered good money to those who
overtook him to pull him out, but they w^ere in too gi'eat
a hurry to get out of the country themselves.

Another young man had been left at Five Finger Eapids
with both feet frozen. His companions were unable to help
him along to the coast, and so left him as comfortable as
they could, realizing what would be his fate. He sent
messages to his friends in the East, and there he was left
in a little hut with no one to care for him, except such
passers-by as had their sympathy touched. He was finally
taken care of by a poor family. In many camps we passed
men were sick, and the prospects were that they could not
survive the trials of a winter in such a place, sleeping on the
snow with the thermometer sometimes as low as seventy
degrees below zero.

Joe and I, who, by spending a winter on the Klondike,
had learned how to prepare for the cold weather and rough
trails, worked our way along very well over the rough river,
though in places the ice was so thin that we and others we
encountered had narrow escapes from being plunged into
the river. We heard of one man who, in crossing, had
broken through and slid under the ice. Of course, that was
the last of him in such a swift current. At Thirty Mile
River it was necessary to make a portage, for the river was
running too swift to freeze at all. The trail along the banks
was a hard one, and we w^ere constantly in danger of sliding
off into the river.

A ONE-HORSE SLEDGE TEAM.
A pair of KoUl-scekers on their wuy tcj tlie Gold Fields.

AN INDIAN MOTHER 513

After many trials we reached White Horse Kapids,
camping on a hill near by. The traveling on the lakes was
very good, but it was a hard climb up that hill. Much of
the time we had to crawl on our hands and knees while drae;-
ging our sleds, and a careless move would have sent us down
into the river.

AVhen we arrived there preparations were being made to
take back to Skagway a young woman who was ver}^ ill.
She had been rescued from almost certain death at a camp
near Lake Lebarge. She had been pushing toward Daw-
son with a party, and, early in ISTovember, when going over
the last hill at Miles Cafion, she slipped and wrenched her
right knee. A stretcher was made for her and the party
pushed on to Lake Lebarge, where they finally made camp,
but the limb, without medical attendance, grew rapidly
worse, and she succumbed to a low rheumatic fever. Her
life was despaired of. Finally, she was sent back to a camp
at the White Horse Rapids, where a doctor was at last found
who put the knee in a plaster cast. After a time she started
for Skagway lashed to a sled drawn by five dogs — a ride of
one hundred and eighty-five miles, over hills and down val-
leys, and through blizzards!

A little incident of the trail! A little chapter in the
history of gold-seeking in Alaska!

Another true story of the Dyea trail is that of the In-
dian mother who was found kneeling in the snow, bared al-
most to the skin and frozen stiff. But in lier rigid arms,
wrapped in fold upon fold of thi(d< furs, slie lield a liltle
child, warm and safe. The mother had given her life for
her child — only a poor Indian woman, but witli as fine an
instinct of protective motherhood as that exemplified by any
of a superior race.

514 BACK TO THE AWFUL CANON

As we were lying on a pile of boughs in our tent tliat
night, with our wet feet shoved up near the red hot stove,
Joe said :

" William, a fellow's life ain't worth much till he gets
out of a place like this."

I gave him a quick glance to see if he were looking well,
and saw that he was, and, as he was always sober-minded, I
thought nothing more about his remark.

" You know what you told me when we arranged in
Colorado to come to Alaska," I said.

" Yes, it takes grit, but we have made pretty well for a
two yeare roughing it, and I was just thinking that if I ever
got out of here I would not be fool enough to return.
Colorado is good enough for me. You too. We've got a
snug sum, and what we need now is to get it out with our
lives."

He said no more and we were soon asleep. The next
day we pushed on toward the canon. All the way along
the rapid river there were open places from which a fine
mist came, which quickly settled as frost upon everything.
It was the most picturesque spot I ever saw. The rapids
were inspiring in their grandness, seething and rushing
along between the fantastically sliaped ice that had gathered
along the banks. Over this ice we made ,our way carefully,
though not without some fear that it would break vdtli us
and that we should be whirled off down the boiling stream,
but after about three miles of it we came safely to the
canon.

" There's where I sailed out on the bottom of the Tar
Stater," I said to Joe, as we looked up between the bluffs.

"Well, things did look blue that day, didn't they?
But the question now is, which course shall we take here ? "

THE RAPIDS CLAIM A VICTIM 515

There were two routes wliicli we could take. One led
up a hill about a hundred feet high and almost as steep as
the side of a barn, and then along the top of the bluff to the
other end. The other was through the canon on the ice
which had formed along the edge of the rocks. The first
meant packing on our backs most of the stuff we had, and in
the condition of the trail it would take all day to do it. By-
taking the latter course we could go through in a few
minutes — if the ice would hold. We saw by the tracks
that numerous dog teams had already gone through, and
there seemed to be no reason why we should not at least
make the attempt.

So we started in. The waters were roaring with that
thunder tone which brought vividly back to me my four-
minutes trip of ^ few months before, and along the walls
was an uneven shelf of ice which the dashing spray had
formed. It seemed sufficiently wide and strong at first, but
it gradually narrowed and at times brought us very near the
angry water. Joe was ahead and picking his way very
carefully. Finally, he came to a place where the shelf of
ice was very slanting and he stepped to the outside edge so
as to push the sled along and steady it, to prevent it from
sliding into the water.

I was preparing to do the same thing when I heard a
sharp cry from Joe, and, looking up, I saw hi^n slip, then
slide over the edge of the shelf into the raging rapids. TTis
hand clutched the rope of the sled, and, quick as n (lasli, \
sprang forward to catch it. But it. was too late. Over
went the sled into the misty foam and sank at once, for it
was heavily loaded.

As T stood almost rigid with fright T saw Joe struggling
bravely in the waters, but being swept rapidly down, and

510 DRAGGED DOWN TO DEATH

I knew he was no swimmer. I started and ran, but jnst
then lie was drawn under the ice shelf, and that was the
last I saw of Joe. The whole thing was over almost in an
instant.

OYeriX)wered with horror and grief, I dropped down
upon the ice in the midst of that roaring canon and cried
like a child.

Poor Joe ! He was a brave, good, generous fellow, with
a heart strong, vet tender. How he had worked and suf-
fered to save my life that wild night on Indian River ! And
now he was taken awav from me so quickly that I could not
even throw out a helping hand. Fate had marked that
canon as a fatal place for Joe and me. We had for years
worked together, suffered together, and helped each other,
and always without any real disagreements. And that
awful caiion had swallowed him almost in an instant; and I
could not even hope to find his poor body to raise over it in
that wild region some nide memorial to a noble friend.

Poor Joe ! Just as he had with strenuous effort wrested
a little fortune from the unfriendly soil, and was hopefully
looking f onvard to a life of happier conditions under a more
genial sun, he was snatched away by Death, — dragged
down to an icy grave where the wild waters lash themselve'fe
in a continual fury and their savage tumult is unceasing.
And the precious dust, for which he had risked and endured
so much — that, too, had become the prey of that awful,
insatiate force that has claimed many a life, and waits to
claim yet more.

I sat for a long time bewildered, mourning with all my
heart for the poor fellow, and then walked back to my sled,
which had kept safely to the shelf. Then for the first time
I realized my own serious predicament. I was left with tlie

FORTUNATE FOR BOTH PARTIES 517

provisions, but with no tent, no stove, no cooking utensils,
and only two blankets. I was tempted to jump into the
rapids and follow Joe, for I knew I should freeze unless I
could fall in with another party who could give me shelter
and warmth. I decided to push on through the canon,
realizing that I should not be much worse off if I also made
a misstep and fell in.

That was a sad and lonely journey for me through those
mountain gorges. I stopped for nothing, not even lunch,
for I had nothing with which to build a fire, as I had no dry
splinters. In the afternoon a terrific snow storm came on
and fell so rapidly that it soon obliterated the trail. To go
on meant certain death; to attempt to camp in that storm
with but two blankets to protect me meant, probably, the
same thing. But the latter course offered the only chance
of safety. So, as I slowly waded along, I looked about for
a sheltered spot. Turning the edge of a mountain which
came down to the winding river I uttered a cry of joy.
There, in a nook, was a little tent half buried in snow. I
hurried on, and, when near, shouted loudly, but no one ap-
peared. 0]>ening the tent, a breath of warm air met me.
Crouching close to a hot stove was a man who looked weak
and sick. On a pile of boughs was another man looking
still weaker and sicker.

" Got any grub? " said the man at the stove, in a husky
voice, looking up to me with eager eyes.

" Too much," I said. " I want a fire and a tent."

" Wake up, Jim! Wake up! Something to eat! " he
said, rousing the other man.

They had lost their provisions a long ways down the
river, and had been passed along from camp to camp with
just enough food to last them, l)ut one of tliciii IkkI frozen

518 SAD THOUGHTS

the soles of his feet and for a whole day they had been
camped there with nothing to cat.

" I began to think I should have to kill one of the dogs
and eat him," said one of the men, after we had feasted.

" Dogs? I saw no dogs about."

'' AVait a minute."

AVe mixed np some flour and bacon and stepped out to
where the snow was drifting ever deeper and deeper. Kick-
ing about in some little mounds in the drifted snow we found
three dogs, sleeping as peacefully and snugly as possible.
But how they ate! And then they lay down and let the
snow drift over them again.

The next day we pushed on rapidly, for Jim's feet were
better, though still painful. I knew we must make good
time if my provisions lasted three men and three dogs over
the pass. But we had fair weather till we reached the sum-
mit, which we crossed in the teeth of a blizzard.

AVliile we were at Sheep Camp there was a bad accident
on the summit which we had just safely crossed. The
blizzard was still raging, and as a party of coast-bound
miners w'ere coming over, an avalanche came thundering
down the mountain side above the narrow defile through
which the miners pass. It covered a large section of the
new tramway, and several sleds and tons of provisions were
a total loss. On the other side a glacier broke away, and
rushed down with terrific force, burying two sleds and a part
of the outfit of two men.

We reached Dyea without further adventures. It was
a sad journey. And as I stood on the deck of the steamer,
looking back on those sombre shores and frowning sum-
mits, my thoughts were of my lost friend and his tragic
death.

CHAPTER XXXVIII

The great rush to the Klondike and Alaska-
excitement ALL over the world — prepara-
tion FOR A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE —
WHAT IT WILL MEAN IF ALL BECOME RICH.

At Seattle — The Stampede of 1898 — Nothing to Compare with It —
The Days of '49 Eclipsed — Transportation Engaged in Advance —
Fitting Up Vessels to Accommodate the Trade — " Klondicitis " —
The Topic of Conversation Everywhere — Preparing Outfits —
Returning Klondiiiers Besieged — Women and Children Have the
Fever — Old Gold-Seekers Aroused — All Sorts of Men Join in
the Rush — Great Exodus from California — Associations of
Women — Gold Dust on Exhibition — The Craze Reaches Jerusa-
lem— A Quarter of a Million of People — How It Appeared to a
Returned Klondiker — All After Gold — Money Spent for Outfits —
What It May Mean — Doubling the Gold Production in a Single
Year- If All Make Fortunes Gold Will Become Cheap.

BY the time I had arrived in the harbor of Seattle I had
about made up my mind that I had seen all I cared
to of the Klondike, and that I should look about
for a chance to employ my capital in the States. I had
formed no adequate idea, even from the stories which had
leaked into the Yukon valley, of the extent of the excite-
ment over the Klondike discoveries, and my surprise upon
landing and learning' the true situation may be imagined.
I do not believe there is a more remarkable incident in the
whole drama of human history than the great stampede of
1898, a term which must be giveu to the exodus of jicdplo

(519)

520 MORE ARGONAUTS THAN IN '49

bound to the frozen regions of the north in search of gold.
The stampede of Eastern people to California in 1849 and
1850 cannot be compared with it. That movement was
gradual, in a sense. It could take place at any time of the
year, and people had more and easier routes than Alaska
affords. But all the miners who poured into California in
the first three years did not number over one hundred
and twenty-five thousand, and many careful historians have
put the number at less than a hundred thousand. There
were never more than fifty thousand arrivals in the South
African gold fields in any one year. Xot more than seventy
thousand people went to Australia when gold was discovered
there. But the number of people leaving the Pacific coast
alone for the Klondike or other parts of Alaska- in the spring
of 1898 was estimated at seventy thousand, and it was cal-
culated that one hundred and fifty thousand more from the
Eastern states, Canada, Europe, Australia, and South
America were preparing to set out.

By the first of January, 1898, the five transcontinental
railroads had contracted to sell to Eastern agents tickets for
carrying more than forty-five thousand people going to the
Klondike before June, and the demands for tickets were
coming in every day. The two principal steam navigation
companies, operating between Seattle and San Erancisco on
the south and the Yukon river on the north, had orders for
the transportation of over twenty thousand travelers, while
new companies for the trade had be,en formed by the score
and were bringing into use almost every steam craft of any
size on the coast. The more conservative estimate of the
number of people transported by the railroads to the coast
to take north-bound vessels was placed by passenger agents
at not less than two hundred and fifteen thousand.

" KLONDICITIS " 521

At the shipping towns all winter hundreds of men were
employed night and day in fitting up vessels suitable for
carrying people and provisions up the Yukon River from
the time navigation opened to September. It was said that
every vessel on the Pacific coast from Chili to British Co-
lumbia that could be bought and made serviceable for a sea
voyage was in preparation for the Klondike business.
Twenty or more sea-going craft were fitted out in Eastern
seaports and went around the Horn to be ready for the
grand rush to Alaska. Millions of dollars' worth of capital
was put into shipping and transportation companies, and the
demand for facilities seemed to have no limit.

The way the fever had taken hold of the people of the
coast, especially in California and Washington, was some-
thing appalling. The papers called it '' Klondicitis." In
the larger centers of California the preparations for going
to the Klondike were as general and as earnest as they were
in Eastern localities for men going to war in the early
sixties. Wherever I went I heard little but " Klondike "
talked about on the cars, in the hotels, in the saloons, and
even on Sunda^^s at church. Whenever you observed a
knot of men in the street, in a rural highway, or in any public
place in California, you were pretty sure to find that the
latest news of new strikes in the Klondike diggings was
under discussion. All the letters that had come straggling
down from Dawson were passed from hand to hand and read
aloud until they fell into tatters. " Yes, I'm going this
spring," was a popular button worn. In all the large cities
nuggets and bottles of gold dust were on exbil)ition in show-
windows, and groups of men were always aboiit lli(> yellow
stuff which at Dawson would not liavc niti'ncfcd 1i;ilf as
much of a crowd as a nice roast of beef. Wherever 1 went,

522 STUDYING THE TOPOGiRAPHY OF ALASKA

railroad billboards were covered with Klondike circulars,
and, later, in every depot I entered as I came East were to be
found circulars announcing an easy route to the Pacific
coast and the Klondike.

The fever affected all lines of enterprise. It was a great
thing for business on the Pacific coast. Hundreds of firms
and individuals were preparing outfits of fur caps and coats,
rubber goods, sleds, stoves, tents, and all sorts of devices, and
were selling them like hot cakes.

The Klondike fever seemed to be in the air. Women
and children shared in the desire to get rich in the Klon-
dike, and maps of Alaska were pored over by whole families
for e^'enings at a time. When I was visiting an old friend
of mine in Los Angeles I was besieged by all the neighbors
for information as to the Klondike. One evening I asked
his son, a bright lad of ten years, if he knew the length of
the sea coast of California, and he said he did not. But I
found that he knew the exact length of the Yukon River.
Little schoolboys and girls knew the topography of the
Yukon and Klondike regions better than they did that of
their native State. The fact that several hundred men went
from the Pacific coast to the Yukon River mines in 1894,
1895, and 1896, all very poor, and that they came back in
1897 very rich — some of them millionaires and some of
them bringing with them sixty thousand dollars, seventy
thousand dollars, and eighty thousand dollars in actual gold
— set the communities in which these successful Klondikers
were personally known well-nigh vnld with anxiety to go
and do likewise.

The desire on the Pacific coast for information about
the possibilities in the marvelous new diggings has amounted
almost to hunger. The public libraries all had constant

FORCED TO GO INTO HIDING 523

calls for literature relating to Alaska. All tlie returned
Klondikers were run after and appealed to by crowds of men
and a few women for Klondike information. The more
successful Klondikers were driven to exasperation by un-
countable questions from droves of people. William
Hewitt, who came back to his Ventura country home with
a five-gallon oil can filled with gold dust and nuggets, had
more than one hundred callers and talkers every day for
weeks, and as many letters from every State in the Union.
J. C. Miller was on the verge of nervous prostration and
had to leave his Los Angeles home when he got back from
the Klondike because he was visited by a swarm of gold-
crazy men day after day for a month.

Clarence A. Berry and his wife, who came from Daw-
son with more than one hundred and ten thousand dollars,
were followed by such throngs on the streets of San Fran-
cisco that they fled to their quiet ranch home at Selma,
where a flood of letters came in upon them with every mail.
Jacob Wiseman, a returned Klondiker in Walla Walla,
Wash., was bothered so much and so long by Klondike-wild
people that he quit the town secretly and went and lived
under an assumed name at Tacoma for a few weeks.

The men who were making ready for the Yidvon Kiver
and Klondike country were of all stations. Naturally, the
old-time miners were most mightily moved by the news of
the gold find in Alaska, and, possessed by the characteristic
restlessness of gold-seekers, many of them had gone to
Alaska and had been struggling all winter from I)y(\'i and
Skagway over the Chilkoot Pass to Dawson, About every
able-bodied and ambitious man in (California who had been
out of employment for a time was either arranging to slai't
for the Klondike or was just itching for a cbancc to get

524 EVERY HAMLET SENDS ITS SHARE

away. Iluudrecls of men gave notice to their employers
that they would quit their jobs and sail as soon as possible
fur Alaska. The Santa Fe and Sonthern Pacific raih-oad
companies each received applications from scores of men
for relief from duty. Every police force in the larger cities
up the Pacific coast States had vacancies caused by the resig-
nation of men going to the gold diggings.

Clerks, lawyers, editors, reporters, doctors, merchants,
butchers, cobblers, stablemen, ranchers, and especially
engineers and men who love adventure were getting ready
to start for the Klondike when navigation began. The men
who had a few thousand dollars saved, and believed they
could soon double their capital by lending it at exorbitant
interest rates, or by trading, were largely in evidence among
those who were soon going north. ]\Iore than three-fourths
of the members of the graduating classes of the San Fran-
cisco and Los Angeles medical schools were hastening their
studies with a view to getting established in the practice of
their profession somewhere in the Klondike country.

Every community, even the most humble hamlet, had
some citizens who were packing and planning to live a year
at least in the Klondike gold region. In such towns as
Eresno, Stockton, Riverside, Pomona, and Redlands there
were companies of twenty and thirty men who were going
to dig for Klondike gold. The greatest rush of people in
any Eastern city in the United States for the Klondike
placer mines was from Chicago.

The number of women going to the Klondike as soon
as navigation opens was increasing as the continuous reports
of richer and more abundant finds came down from the
frozen north. The allurements of the yellow metal were
almost as potent among the women of California as among

MINING ASSOCIATIONS OF WOMEN 5"25

the men, and the exhibits of Klondike nuggets and golden
dust in the store and bank windows and public places, and
the personal knowledge of men who went to Alaska poor in
1895 and came back rich, all had their effect. The book-
sellers said they had hundreds of calls from women for
books and maps giving a knowledge of Alaska, and the
newspaper accounts of the work and success of the miners
on the Klondike were read by as many California women as
men. Every community of two thousand or three thou-
sand people had a few women residents making ready to go
to live in the Klondike region for a year or two. In Los
Angeles there were twenty women making Klondike prepa-
rations. San Diego had half a dozen, San Francisco more
than one hundred, Portland, Ore., a score, and Seattle twice
as many more. But few of these women were going with
husbands. The greater part of them had no husbands, and
they went to the gold regions expecting that where men
may get rich either as workers in mines or owners of mining
claims they also may do so.

A few women went as mining prospectors. Miss Jennie
Hilton, who has made a small fortune in gold-mining in
Arizona, contracted with a syndicate of business-like women
to spend two years in gold-mining in the Klondike region.
The profits were to go to the members of the syndicate, who
will pay Miss Hilton a good salary and twenty per cent, of
the first year's find of gold. Several associations of women
were formed for mining in the Klondike region, and each
sent several w^omen to seek gold for thoin.

The competition among the transcontinental niilroad
companies for the transportation business, niid jmiong tlio
cities of San Francisco, Seattle, and Tacoma for the enor-
mous sums spent on the coast for Klondike^ outfits, was very
31

536 TRAVELING EXHIBITS

keeu. Three of the raih'oad companies had cars tilled witli
Klondike exhibits traveling from town to town in the
Eastern States. The cars were substantially the same.
Each contained glass jars of nuggets and gold dust, litera-
ture about Alaska and the new diggings, and a complete and
varied assortment of the articles necessary for living and
successful mining in the Arctic regions. There were
miners' pans, rockers, picks, hammers, shovels, quicksilver
contrivances for holding particles of gold, besides samples
of fur and wool garmentvS worn in the Arctic regions, fur
hoods and muffs and walrus skin shoes. There were hun-
dreds of pictures showing how the gravel of the mines is
thawed and dug out, and how it is finally sluiced when the
warmer weather of midsummer comes; pictures of miners'
life in the Yukon cabins, and photographs of Dawson and
the surrounding country.

The rush of people to the Klondike during the five
months of navigation in 1898 was the most wonderful ever
known to any region — gold or otherwise. White, red,
brown, and black men alike were stirred by the discovery of
a new gold field, and all came over seas from the antipodes
and across continents to join in a grand rush northward up
the Pacific.

One company alone received more than twenty-five
thousand inquiries from people saying they were making
ready to go to the Klondike.

The letters that the transportation companies received
every day showed that the Klondike fever was by no means
local. It reached Russia and even staid old Jerusalem,
where one would believe that digging gold within the Arctic
circle would not have a moment's consideration. A gentle-
man in the Central Pacific offices showed me a letter from a

THIS MADNESS REACHES ROUND THE WORLD 527

Greek in Jerusalem who said tliat be and a company of
other Greeks there are going to Dawson with stores of
goods to trade. Norwegians and Swedes have been more
deeply interested in the newly-found gold mines in Alaska
than any people on the continent of Europe. Several of
their countrymen were among the Klondikers who came
down from Alaska with fortunes. A sloop having on board
ninety Norwegians left Christiania in October, going
around the Horn and reaching San Francisco in April.
Hundreds of letters from Englishmen were received, and
there were large concerns doing a thriving business in Lon-
don in fitting out prospective Klondikers with Arctic
raiment and miners' tools. The Canadian Pacific Railroad
expected to carry several thousand young Englishmen and
Canadians across the continent on their way to the Klon-
dike. Dozens of large expeditions were forming in Eng-
land and Scotland for digging gold in the Yukon Kiver
country.

The Britannia-Columbia Company sold thousands of
pounds' worth of stock and sent more than five hundred
men to mine and trade in the new gold region. An expedi-
tion of three hundred Scotchmen sailed for Montreal in the
latter part of January on their way to Alaska. A company
of young Italians was in San Francisco, impatiently await-
ing the sailing of the first boat for the Yukon. They were,
they said, the advance guard of several hundred of their
countrymen who have been charmed by the news of the
fortunes made on the Klondike.

A fairly conservative estimate of the number of ])eoi)lG
who were going into the Klondike or to other gold fields in
Alaska was two hundred and fifty thousand. T mot tliem
all the way on my trip East. Every wcst-bouii<l express

538 A MANIP^ESTATION OF HUMAN NATURE

was loaded down with Klondikers. One day 1 saw fonrtcen
coaches on a west-bound train. Xine coaches make an
ordinary and a heavy train, but the rush was so great that
five additional coaches had been attached to the train.
Every day there were from three to six additional coaches
to each westward-bound train. The passenger list of a
single day's through train included about tw^o hundred men
and one hundred dogs bound for the gold fields.

To one who has just returned from a two-years ex-
perience in the gold regions of the Yukon, who has seen
death and suffering as an incident of everyday life, who
knows what mining in Alaska or in the Klondike means,
who has been forced to rush back to the States to make sure
of enough to eat, and who has seen his dearest friend
swept away under the ice by a raging river which can count
its victims by the score, these preparations for rushing for
fortunes into those frozen mountains appeared like madness.
Yet when we come to study it, it is nothing of the kind. It
is human nature manifesting itself in a certain direction.
What had Joe and I gone into Alaska for? Gold. What
did the ten thousand or more people who sought to go in
in 1897 want but gold? And what were the two hundred
and fifty thousand people I found preparing to rush in after
but gold? It is that which society in its growth and
economic development has decreed as the standard of all
value, that which the old alchemists tried to make, which the
miser gloats over, that which when held in abundance gives
men standing in society, influence, and power. That is
what all are after, and the stampede would probably not be
more remarkable if the only way to save the immortal soul
was to winter in Alaska.

But there is money to be made in the United States as

WHAT THE AVERAGE IS 531

well as in Alaska. One might make as miicli in a day on
the stock exchange as he can find in a year in Alaska or the
Klondike. But that is not the point. The impression is
that the gold of the Yukon can be obtained easily, that the
land is a poor man's country, and that in a year or so one
may return rich and take that place in society that wealth
can give. But gold does not grow upon the bushes of the
Yukon hills; it does not lie to any great extent on the
ground; in the whole great valley probably there are few
places where boulders can be turned over disclosing shining
nuggets underneath. There are acres of gold there, but to
secure the precious metal one must be prepared to work as
he would not work in the United States. He must run
the risk of losing his life or ruining his constitution, and
even then he may not find the wealth he sought.

During the winter following the gold discoveries on the
Yukon there were at least two thousand people at Dawson
and in the mines. The output was reckoned at about six
million dollars; that is about three thousand dollars for each
person. No man can go into the Klondike and live a year
and profitably work a mine for any such amount of money
as that. The trip in with a fair outfit can cost no l(>ss than
five hundred dollars. By the time ho has staked a claim,
built a hut, and prepared to work the mine, he has spent
nearer two thousand dollars, and if he is careful and has
good luck he may get out of the country at the end of a year
on the balance.

But, it will be said, there were several men wlio went in
with thousands in the summer of 1(S07 and caiiic out with
millions. They certainly came out with thousands. So
much the worse, then, for those avIio did not uinkc thou-
sands, for, as I have said, the outjuit per jxtsou was not

532 A MONETARY UPHEAVAL

greater than three thousand. If a hundred or so came out
with thousands, how about the other one thousand nine hun-
dred who did not ?

It has been said that ten thousand people rushed into
the Klondike and to other points on the Yukon in 1897.
But the output can hardly be greater than twenty million,
that is two thousand per pei-son. If two hundred and fifty
thousand people rush into the country, it is not likely that
they will spend less than three hundr&d dollars each in get-
ting into the country. That means seventy-five million
dollars. They will probably spend more on the average.
Supposing that these people spend a year in Alaska and take
out an average of two tliousand dollars each — an amount
that would not pay their expenses — the aggregate output
for 1898-99 would be five hundred million dollars, or more
than ticice the gold prod net iou in JS97 for the entire
trorld.

It is plain, therefore, that the great rush of people
into the Yukon valley means one of two things; either a
great loss of money for those engaged in the rush, or a
complete upsetting of the standard on which all values are
based.

But they are not after the paltry two thousand dollars!
They would not rush in for that. Their hopes are to come
out as some of the lucky ones did last year with fortunes of
fifty thousand dollars or more apiece, perhaps a million.
They do not stop to think what that means. If one-half of
them made fortunes of only twenty-five thousand dollars
each and the other half made nothing, it would mean an
output of over four billion dollai*s in gold, or more than all
the coined gold in a world which has been coining it for
fifty centuries.

THE FINAL RESULT 533

Tliere must either be a terrible disappointment to the
thousands who are going into Alaska and the Klondike or
there must be a monetary upheaval. If all become rich in
gold, the metal will become cheap, too cheap to be worth the
hazards and privations endured by those who sought it.

CHAPTER XXXIX

RESOURCES OF THE YUKOX VALLEY — POSSIBILITIES
OF QUARTZ MINING — COOK INLET, UNGA ISLAND
AND COPPER RIVER — THE FUTURE OF ALASKA.

Waiting for More Thorough Prospects — Comparative Smallnessof the
Klondike District — Room for a Million to be Lost in — The Klon-
dike all Located — The Government's Gold Map — Traces of Gold
Everywhere — Most of Alaska Unexplored — Some Comparisons
with Early Production in California — Difference in Conditions —
Obstacles to be Overcome — Possibly a Dozen Klondikes — Induce-
ments for Quartz Mining — A Belt of Rich Rock Thousands of
Miles Long — The Quartz Mines of Unga Island — A String of
Islands that May be Rich in Gold — A Test of Klondike Quartz —
Credit for the First Discovery — Cook Inlet and Its Mines — The
Benefit of Waiting a Little Longer — The Copper River Countrj' —
Stories of Rich Diggings — Friendly Indians with Mineral Wealth
— Points of Distribution — Unforeseen Results of Our Purchase of
Alaska — Its Future.

WHILE it may seem that there can be but one
answer to the question as to whether the hopes
of the thousands of people who have gone to the
Yukon valley can be realized, it is certainly impossible for
any man to say what may be the results till the great country
has been more thoroughly explored and prospected. The
general conception of wdiat is required in life in Alaska
or the British Xorthwest Territory, is quite as inadequate
as the usual idea. as to the size of the country, and of the
comparative size of the so-called Klondike district. The

(534)

ROOM FOR A MILLION MORE 535

area of the whole of the Klondike and. Indian River dis-
tricts, upon which any work of importance was done before
.the spring of 1898, is not greater than that of the State of
Rhode Island. But the area of Alaska alone is four hun-
dred and twenty times that of Rhode Island, and the British
Yukon district, in which the Klondike region lies, is at least
two hundred times the size of the State of Rhode Island.
In other words, almost the whole excitement over gold dis-
coveries in the north has centered in a little clump of moun-
tains forming about one six hundred and twenty-fifth part
of the great country whose future has become a matter of
such interest, and upon the development of which results
so largely depend. It wdll thus be seen that while there re-
mains little chance for newcomers in the Klondike, it would
be easy for a million people to be so placed in the whole
country that they might feel lonesome. Those who
stumbled upon the Klondike placers just happened to find
one of the rich pockets under the moss and muck of the
land, and even as a result of nearly two years of excitement
much less of the district has been worked than has been
preempted. Comparatively little ground has been worked
yet. The claims on the various creeks forming the dis-
trict have all been located; wherever gold has been found
on the side hills above the creek beds bench claims have
been located, and a few quartz claims have been recorded.
But even so, the Klondike district is a small one compared
with the area of country over which gold has been found.

As a result of the now interest in these gold fields, the
government of the T'nited States has recently prepared a
gold map combining the results of its recent explorations
and the reports of those who have found traces of gold in
various parts of the country. AVliercvcr such I races liiiv(>

530 ASTONISHING RESULTS POSSIBLE

been found it is indicated by yellow spots, and the most
striking thing about it is the extent of the country so
dotted. Gold is everywhere, apparently, on all the creeks
and rivers, and yet most of the gold that has been taken
out has been from a few small creeks and gulches. A large
part of Alaska is entirely unexplored, is a real terra in-
coy)! if a. The fact that so many have had their attention
attracted in its direction constitutes the possibility of start-
ling results.

When we consider that the country in question is five
times as large as California, and that gold is found over
such a large area, while the placers of California were not
large in comparison with the whole State, and, further, that
placers of such richness as those of the Yukon have never
before been found, it is easy to see that the most astonish-
ing results are possible, when human energy and ingenuity
is once centered on the problem of securing the gold.

The gold production of the United States for the first
six years of the California discoveries (nearly all of it the
result of working the alluvial of that State) is officially
o-iven as follows :

1848, .

. $10,000,000

1851, .

. 155,000,000

1849, .

. 40,000,000

1853, .

. 60.000,000

1850, .

. 50,000,000

1853, .

. 65,000,000

From that point it began to decline rapidly, for the
placers were exhausted to a large degree. On about a
score of mines, which were worked in a crude way during
the wint-er of 1896-Y on two streams in the Klondike, fully
five million dollars in gold was produced. The evidence
of this fact is that more than that amount was brought
riown in the summer of 1897 from this region, and there
U'as certainlv considerable ffold taken out that winter that

A HUNDRED MILLIONS ANNUALLY 537

was not brought down. While during the succeeding win-
ter more claims were worked, the scarcity of food rendered
the labor of many who were in the district inefficient.
Nevertheless, the production can hardly be less than twice
what it was in California in 1 848, and if the people rushing
into the country in 1898 accomplish anything like what
the Forty-niners did, or what the gold-seekers in 1851 in
Australia did, it can not be an exaggeration to say that the
gold production of Alaska and the upper Yukon territory
may reach a hundred millions annually; and while the rich
placers of California were quickly exhausted, those of the
North seem inexhaustible.

But the difference in climate and in the conditions as
to placer mining between California or Australia and the
Yukon must be taken into consideration. In Australia
and California a man with pick, shovel, and pan could, in
the days of gulch or creek mining, prospect in all seasons,
was nearly always within easy reach of supplies, and could
prospect many miles of creek in a few weeks; for there the
ground was not frozen and was not covered with muck, and
the pay was, in most cases, found along the present streams,
something that is not true on the Yukon, where the gold in
all creek claims is mined from what is called a pay-channel,
or, sometimes, two pay-channels. Tlie pay-channels do
not follow the lines of the present streams at all, though
confined by the same walls; and prospectors in endeavoring
to locate the pay are in no way guided l)y the course of (lie
present streams nor assisted by modern erosions, except
that in summer they may find evidence that there is a rich
pay-channel in the presence of gold in the bed of the stream,
washed from such pay-cli;iinicl ; biil in (n-clcr to tiii<! llic (1(>-
posit the prospector must wait until the ground is iVu/.cii.

538 POSSIBILITIES IN QUARTZ MINING

But such obstacles will not baffle hiimaii inocniiitj, and
it is safe to say tliat tlie discovery on the Klondike is but
the beginning of systematic mining on a large scale, for,
innnense as the riches of the district are, they are merely
an object lesson of the opportunities which lie waiting
thronghont the Yukon basin. Even the crowds who have
already gone will hardly make a showing in that vast area.
"We have yet to hear from creeks like Sulphur, ]\Iontana,
and ]\rooschide, which are known to be rich and which were
largely discovered and staked by those who first rushed in
after the news of the Klondike. It is not extravagant to
say that another year may develop a dozen Klondikes, and
that the principal scene of operations will be in Alaska,
where miners are free from the extortion of royalty and
taxes by the Canadian government.

In many respects quartz mining offers greater induce-
ments to those seeking fortunes in Alaska than the working
of the frozen placers, but, as yet, little is known of the pos-
sibilities in this direction. There is the natural assump-
tion that where such rich deposits are found in the creek
beds and on some of the hillsides, gold-bearing rock of
great value must exist. It would seem to be a fact that the
gold in nuggets found on Bonanza and Eldorado bears no
evidence of having traveled any distance — in fact, the ma-
jority of the nuggets are as angular and irregular in shape
as though just pounded out of the mother lode. This leads
to the inference that that mother lode is not very distant
from where this gold is now found, and the only debatable
question is, is it in lodes of sufficient dimensions to pay for
working by stamp mills, or is it a series of widely-dis-
seminated, thin seams that the miners term " stringers," so

THE GOLD-BEARING ZONE 539

scattered as to render working them unprofitable? Time
alone will reveal this secret.

Gold has been foimd at the head of Lake Lebarge on a
stream flowing into the lake from the east. Prospects, too,
are found on the Dalton trail, on the other side of the
Yukon River. A man riding across the Alsek on this trail
was thrown from his horse, and in clambering ashore caught
at a small tree, which pulled out by the roots. AVhere he
landed he saw something shining on the rock. He picked
it up and found that it was gold. He showed this gold at
Fort Cudahy in July, 1896, the amount being about one
dollar and sixty cents. Other prospects have also been
found along the same trail, about midway between there
and Selkirk.

From these circumstances and discoveries it may be as-
sumed that in all this country there is gold, while in one
particular zone it is especially abundant. This zone lies
outside of a range of mountains which extends to the west-
ward of the Rockies and has the same general trend. It
consists of cretaceous rock, rising into very high peaks in
some places, and crosses the Yukon River just below the
boundary. The ore-bearing rocks crop out at intervals on
the hills, being covered up in between by thousands of feet
of sedimentary shales, the peculiar formation being due to
a tremendous crumpling up of the whole region in some
ancient epoch.

Opposite the mouth of Klondike Creek, and opposite
Dawson, a tunnel has been driven into a wide body of ore
in the rocks, which is said to assay thirty-six dollars in gold
and eighteen dollars in silver to the ton. On the trail from
Circle City to Birch Creek is a quartz vein ten feet wide

540 MINES ON DOUGLAS ISLAND

that shows much free gold. On Deadwood Creek, in the
neighborhood of Birch Creek, is a wide vein ricli in silver.

So far as any tests of importance have been made, there
can be little donbt of the existence of a great belt of ore,
and some rich specimens have been reported. The Cana-
dian surveyor who made a test of a specimen taken from a
claim on Gold Bottom Creek said of it :

" I had no sieve and had to employ a hand mortar,
which those who know anything of the work will under-
stand would not give the best results. The poorest result
obtained, however, was one hundred dollars to the ton,
while the richest was one thousand dollars. Of course, I
do not know what the extent of the claim is, but the man
who found it said that from the rock exposed the deposit
must be considerable in extent."

The credit for the first quartz discovery in the Klondike
seems to belong to one W. Oler. On December 15th he
found a well-defined ledge of gold-bearing quartz on Hunker
Creek, just above Last Chance. It was of pure white, re-
sembling the rose quartz of California, and the ledge aver-
aged seven feet wide on the croppings. Crude assays of the
quartz showed free gold, and a half interest in the claim
was purchased by Ladue for eight thousand dollai's. Oler
was regarded as one of the best quartz experts on the
Yukon.

Reference has already been made to the large stamp
mills on Douglas Island opposite Juneau. Several other
mines in that vicinity are being successfully worked by
capital. Indeed, it requires capital, for while the ledge
of gold-bearing rock stretches for many miles the ore is of
low grade. With capital these mines in 1897 produced
almost as much gold as the Klondike placers.

THE COOK INLET DISTRICT 541

Nearly all the mining in western Alaska thus far is at
Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound, and Unga Island. At
Unga there are a number of quartz mines, one of which, the
Apollo Consolidated, has a development of about eight
hundred feet, and forty stamps at work. In 1896 it
crushed about forty one thousand tons and produced over
three hundred thousand dollars' worth of bullion. It is
now shipjjing about thirty thousand dollars a month to San
Francisco. The island is but one of that great group whicli
stretches for such a distance into the Pacific, and scarcely
any prospecting has been done upon them, though there
are many indications that they are nearly all of the same
formation. For anything that may l^e known, all these
islands may be rich in gold.

Actual ojjerations have been largely confined to the
districts known as Cook's Inlet and Prince AVilliani St)iiiid,
into which flows the Copper River. The country about
Cook Inlet is not develoiDed yet, so that it is impossible to
say how rich it may be. So far, while no very rich placer
claims have been reported, many are paying well. Mills
Creek is reported to be the best. One company located
there, working twenty men, averaged one thousand dollars
a day for the season of 1897. The season lasts for not mova
than four months. There were only about forty men win-
tering at Sunrise City, and thirty at Cook City, and they
had provisions for three years, so that they possessed some
advantages which were lacking in the Yukon districts.

A man who has been at Sunrise City for two years tells
me that the miners have not really commenced on the (^)ok
Inlet district yet. It requires a whole season to fully pros-
pect a claim. Some men work a while witlioul nviiino-
anything, and then go away in-onouneiug the place ol" no

542 FORTUNE SMILED AT LAST

value. But one fellow illustrated the wisdom of staying
a little longer, lie had five hinidred dollars when he ar-
rived at the Inlet, and went to work on Lynx Creek. He
took out about one dollar and fifty cents a day to the man,
and was drawing on his capital to pay his help at the rate
of four 'dollars a day per man. When his money was
nearly all gone the men stopped work and pulled away,
saying there was no gold there and that the poor fellow
had lost his capital. One day, however, he came to town
with a sack of one thousand dollars, wdiich he had taken
out in a week, and he took one thousand a week for the re-
mainder of the season.

Only two streams and their tributaries have ever been
mined — Six ^Alile River and Resurrection Creek. The
tributaries of the former which are paying are Cahon^
Mills, a tributary of Caiion, and Gulch creeks.

Some mining is being done all along the banks of Six
Mile River, which is a big stream one hundred and eighty-
five feet wide at Sunrise City, with a rapid current. There
is gold in its bed, but on account of its size and the current
it is not an easy stream to work, so most of the miners keep
to the gulches. There are places where Six Mile River
might be turned from its course at a small expense, and the
exposed bed should furnish rich ground for extensive work.
Large companies have organized to develop this district on
an extensive scale.

One report states that the best paying property is on
Crranite Gulch, a tributary of Six Mile, but no one has yet
seen bed-rock there. The tributaries of Resurrection
Creek which are paying are Bear and Palmer, but the gold
on the former is w^orth only about fourteen dollars and forty

THE COPPER RIVER COUNTRY 54o

cents per ounce, while that on the other is worth about six-
teen dollars.

Right across Turnagain Arm is Burt Creek, which was
the scene of a rush during the season of 1897. It is not
thoroughly prospected, but it is reported that a man took
out pans of from eighty cents to one dollar and twenty
cents right on the surface.

There is one good thing about the Cook Inlet country
— it is a comparatively cheap place in which to live. It
costs but about one hundred dollars to build a cabin, and
provisions cost very little more than at ports of the United
States. Freight rates from Seattle are only about half a
cent a pound, which is very different from the rates to the
upper Yukon.

On Prince William Sound is what is commonly known
as the Copper River country. Some copper ore ledges of
great size have been found on Fidalgo Bay and Latouche
Island. Some of the ledges are said to be fifty feet wide
and to carry copper sulphides assaying from twenty to fifty
per cent, of copper, but little gold.

Where there is any placer gold on Copper River re-
mains to be seen. It is a very rough country around the
mouth, and the men who have been up the river far are
hard to find. Those who have been up a little distance
claim that for the first one hundred and twenty miles the
gold to be found is too fine to pay for getting out, but that
beyond there are placers which will rival tlie Klondike.
This, however, must be partly guesswork, until more pros-
pecting has been done.

From letters received, liowever, from a party which

went on a prospecting trip in the summer of 1807, very

rich gold fields arc a possibility of the upper river. One
32

544 MARVELOUS MINERAL RESOURCES

mciiiber of the ex])cditioii stated that he had discovered
quartz whieli yiekled twenty dollars to the ton, and that
the streak was a very wide one.

In the fall of 18!) 7 there were about two hundred pros-
pectors at Orca and the vicinity of the mouth of the Cop-
per Kiver, awaiting a favorable opportunity to advance
towards the headwatei-s. One of the men who had been
to a point about fifty miles up the river heard of rich de-
posits of gold which had been found north of Spirit Moun-
tain, on a tributary of the Chittyna River, about tweity
miles from its confluence with the Copper. It was said
that one of the locators had taken out sixty thousand dol-
lars the season before, and that supplies had been brought
in to the camp by men avIio had kept the discovery secret.
There were all sorts of stories about these diggings, which,
it was said, would rival those of the Klondike, but time
only will prove the truth of these assertions.

Copper River is not a good place for a tenderfoot.
Forty miles up the river are the rapids. The entrance to
the mouth of the river is very difficult, and can be made
only by those who know the roundabout way of getting
in. Above the rapids the river freezes over towards the
last of October, and the slush and snow make it almost im-
passable for any but the strongest traveler. By January
the snow is likely to be about twenty feet deep on level
places, and that is the best and most practicable month for
traveling.

People who have made the journey up the river at this
propitious time have reported that the Indians are friendly
and that they have marvelous mineral resources, though
their implements are very crude. Their chief metal is
copper, wliich they have in abundance, as pure as'ever came

OTHER POSSIBILITIES 545

from a smelter. They also have gold bracelets and finger
ornaments, but when asked where they got this gold they
are very reticent and simply point mysteriously towards the
northeast.

There are numerous other places in Alaska in which
gold has been found, and many more where it is just as
likely to be found. The Kuskokwim River is one of the
great streams of l^orth Am£rioa, but probably not half a
dozen white men now living have any knowledge of it be-
yond the Roman Catholic mission at Oknagamut, and cer-
tainly no man who has been heard of is qualified to speak
with authority of the possibilities of the country it traverses,
so far as mining is concerned. All that can truthfully be
said is that on two or three of its bars " colors " have been
found.

In the coast region above the mouths of the Yukon
practically no prospecting has been done save on the shore
of I^orton Sound, and not much even there. Silver has
been discovered on this sound, the ore yielding one hundred
and forty-three ounces of the white metal to the ton, and a
ten-stamp mill is kept thundering. Gold has recently
been found there in the sea-sand. A few years ago Lieu-
tenant Stoney found a few grains of gold on bars of the
Burkland and Selawik rivers, and Mr. Miner Bruce, in tlio
summer of 1894, saw in the possession of an Eskimo iu>ar
Fort Morton an ounce of coarse gold said to have been
washed from gravel of the Kowak River. Further tliau
this scarcely anything is known. Tliis district also waits
the investigation of prospectors.

I have already spoken of the possibilities of the Taiiana
and Koynkuk rivers, each having tribnlarics heading up
into the same belt of mountains from ihe gn]('h(>s of wliirli

546 PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED

gold lias been taken. This is the story all over the great
country.

So long as the wealth is there it will undoubtedly be
secured in time, but it will take a long time unless some-
thing is done for transportation. Therein lies the key to
the development of such a country. Whoever can suc-
cessfully solve the problem of cheap transportation and
easy communication will not simply do a great thing for
the country but will make millions of money. If there
is coal in the mountains, and it is asserted that there is,
others can become rich in mining and selling that great
article of fuel. The sale of merchandise cannot fail to be
IDrofitable. Indeed, I have heard of several who, having
been in the Klondike regions, have said that, so long as
merchandise sold at such high prices on the Yukon, they
would be satisfied with the profits upon that business, let-
ting those who sought the gold take their chances. This
species of speculation will be of great advantage to the
country, for it will, perhaps, insure the workers in various
placers the supply of food needed to take them tlu'ough an
Arctic winter.

Another requirement will be suitable points of dis-
tribution. For example, Dawson under the present con-
ditions can be used as a distributing point for only a small
section — that little section of mining land about the Klon-
dike. If those w^ho are prospecting on the Stewart find
another rich region it will be necessary to have another dis-
tributing point further up the river. It now takes so long
a time to go back and forth to Dawson for provisions that
little time is left for work in the creeks.

When these problems have been solved there will be a
new era in the world. There will no longer be a com-

NOT A BAD DEAL AFTER ALL 547

plaint of the scarcity of money if gold continues the stand-
ard of value and the great means of exchange. The future
of Alaska may have a great deal to do with the future of
society in general.

When Russia sold that great country to the United
States for less than half a cent an acre, it was little dreamed
that in a year or two a single industry would pay the bill;
there was little thought that the salmon industry would pay
it again; no one but a most extravagant dreamer would have
dared to declare that in a quarter of a century it might be
one of the richest mineral iields in the world. When
W. H. Seward, Secretary of State, negotiated the purchase
it was almost universally decried by the politicians and
other wise people considered it a l)ad deal. Most Ameri-
cans thought they were getting what Russia did not want,
and were paying a big price for it. The purchase was op-
probriously termed " Seward's Folly," " America's Polar
Bear Reserve," and " The jSTew National Refrigerator."
But now Great Britain is ready to dispute every inch of that
small section of the boundary line about which there can be
any dispute. Seward and Sumner, who supported the \n\Y-
chase, were doubtless even wiser than they knew, but it
shows that the foresight and sagacity of some men may be
vindicated long after they are dead

CHAPTER XL

ADVICE TO GOLD-SEEKERS — THE IMPORTANCE OF HAY-
ING A GOOD OUTFIT — POINTS TO BE REMEMBERED
— WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO DO.

Some Advantages in Not Being in a Hurry — Not a Poor i\Ian's Country
, — Good Advice from a United States Government Expert — A
Place for Strong Men and Those Who Can Afford to Lose —
Expenses Which Have to Be Met — The Cost of Cabins and Facili-
ties for AVorkiug ]\Iines — One Thousand Dollars for Sluice Boxes
— The Advantage of Having Partners — Unwise to Take Less
Than a Year's Outfit — Suicide Cheaper in Lower Latitudes — It
Takes a Week to Dig a Grave — Times When Every Man Looks
the Picture of Distress — Sail North Only in Good Vessels — How
to ^lark Packages — Trunks an Inconvenience — Sugar and Salt as
Hard as Quartz — Tobacco as Good as Money on the Yukon — As
to Furs — Shot Guns Better Than Revolvers — Jack Dalton's Rules
for the Trail — Possibilities of Losing a Toe or a Foot.

NOTWITHSTAXDIXG the richness of Alaska and
the belief that a great future lies before it, no bet-
ter advice, it seems to me, can be offered any one
in search of a fortune than to stay away from Alaska,
and especially the upper Yukon, for the present. There
will be time enough to secure some of the gold in the
country when better and safer means of communication
and ways of living are provided. That may not be long
lience. Already steps have been taken to greatly miti-
gate the difficulties of the passes, but these passes are
only the Ix'ginning of difficulties. At present, a trip to

(548)

THE PLACE FOR CAPITAL 549

Alaska witli the intention of staying there a year or more
is a great risk for any man, and for the poor man who knows
nothing abont placer mining, and has a family depending
upon him, it would be almost criminal to put a large amount
of money into an Arctic outfit and make the attempt.
Such a man would have about as good a chance to make a
fortune by staking all that his outfit cost him on the
gambling table at once.

Alaska placers, I have no doubt, offer better oppor-
tunities than most other gold-fields. But only prospectors
and capitalists who can lose without being badly damaged
should go there until more is known. I cordially indorse
the advice given by Mr. Samuel C. Dunham, the expert sent
into the Yukon country to report for the United States De-
partment of Labor. He said, in Dawson, after studying
the Klondike : " The poor man should not be encouraged
to come here. ISTo man should think of coming who cannot
bring with him at least a ton of food and at least one thou-
sand dollars in cash, and who cannot lose a year of his labor,
his ton of food, and his thousand of cash without wre(;king
his family or imperiling his life scheme. Neither should
the weak man be encouraged to come here. Only the
strong, healthy man, capable of enduring the utmost hard-
ship and the severest toil, is adapted to this region. For
the prospector who is strong, and who has the degree of in-
dependence I have suggested, this land affords excellent
opportunities; and for capital I know of no ])lace tliat holds
out better chances."

In a previous chapter I have said that no one could
afford to go to Alaska or to the Klondike and mine a year
for less than three thousand dollars. Yet some seem to
think that an outfit costing something like four lniii(li'c(l

OOO NECESSARY EXPENSES OF MINING

dollars is about all that is necessary. Possibly, a little more
sjieeitic information as to some of the essential expenses of
mining would enable intending gold-seekers to advise them-
selves. We will assume that a man has gone to the Klon-
dike successfully on about five hundred dollars, that is,
tliat he has taken in a year's outfit without losing it, and has
])aid the necessary charges in getting it there by any of the
routes. We will assume also that he has located a claim in
some district which promises to be paying and that he has
paid the charges incident thereto, charges the nature of
which have been already explained. This is assuming that
he has made a pretty successful beginning, though he knows
nothing as yet about the richness of his claim. He has
simply arrived at the jioint where he must endeavor to find
out how much he can make out of his spot of frozen earth.

The first essential is to built a cabin on his claim. The
cost of a rude hut about ten by fourteen feet will be about
six hundred dollars, and this is assuming that he will not
go to the extravagance of using sawed lumber. Having
his hut ready and his outfit cached, at the beginning of win-
ter he can set about working his claim. This requires both
labor and wood. If he reaches bed-rock on one hundred
dollars' worth of wood he will be doing well. If he finds
the pay-streak the first time he is doing very well. If he
hires labor to remove the dirt that is thawed out it will cost
him about ten dollars a foot for each shaft he sinks.

The cost of handling dirt from shaft-sinking to clean-up
(labor bills), winter working, averages twelve dollars a
cubic yard. In other words, by the time he is ready to
think about sluicing he has spent on his outfit and his cabin,
and for fuel and labor, not less than two thousand five hun-
dred dollars. Seventy-two sets of longitudinal riffles per

COST OF TOOLS AND LABOR 551

claim are used during the summer season, as claims are at
present worked in the district, and these cost on an average
five dollars a set. The cost of sluice-boxes, riffles not in-
cluded, averages twenty-five dollars a box. The cost of set-
ting a line of sluice-boxes and keeping the line set through
a summer averages two thousand dollars.

The cost of building a rough dam sufficient for the or-
dinary working of the average five-hundred-foot claim in
the Klondike division is about one thousand dollars. The
cost of constructing a waste-ditch on claim Xo. 30, El-
dorado Creek, was about one thousand two hundred dol-
lars.' It is an average ditch.

The cost of handling the dirt (labor bills), summer work-
ing, from the ground-sluicing to the clean-up, averages five
dollars a cubic yard on the entire quantity removed. The
cost of pumping for drainage of a summer pit four hundred
feet long by thirty feet wide, averages seventy-two dollars
for twenty-four hours.

AVheelbarrows cost twenty-five dollars apiece, whetlier
bought or made ; shovels, three dollars and fifty cents apiece ;
mattocks, five dollars apiece; blacksmith's portable forges,
about two hundred dollars apiece; sluice-forks, six dollars
apiece; axes, four dollars and fifty cents apiece; hand-saws,
five dollars and fifty cents apiece; nails, forty cents a pound;
gold-scales of average capacity, fifty dollars a pair; ([uick-
silver, one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound; black
powder, one dollar and twenty-five cents a pound. These
prices are for the supplies delivered on the claims. Some
of these articles may have been taken in with the original
outfit.

These are the main items of expense to bo iiicuri'cd by
one who wishes to become the owner of a claim, who woi-ks

C)i>2 IMPORTANT ADVICE

it himself with hired help, and who has taken into the coun-
try all he wants to eat. In no other way can he expect to
make a fortune unless in pure speculation. He could not
iKH'ome rich by working at days' wages, though his expenses
would be less.

If the dirt turns out to be rich he will be all right. If
it docs not he will wish he had never heard of Alaska. In
any case, the dirt must be of exceptional richness to pay
him for such an outlay of money. It cost Clarence Berry
about twenty-two thousand dollars to take one hundred and
thirty thousand dollars out of some of the richest dirt that
was ever discovered.

AVith the knowledge of these facts a man who is intend-
ing to go to the Klondike to become rich can advise himself,
for he can understand what it means when I say that a per-
son who knows nothing ab'out mining, and has little money,
would have as good a chance of making a fortune by put-
ting it at once upon a gambling table.

Still, the gold is there, and millions will be made, and it
is probably useless to advise against seeking to become one
of the millionaires. The most important advice to be im-
pressed upon those who are going to the Klondike or other
points on the Yukon is have a good partner and a year's
outfit. Partners are a necessity in Alaskan travel, but
parties larger than three or four do not get along well to-
gether, and usually split up. A two-years outfit is safer
and better than less. It is constructive suicide for one to go
to the Klondike wdth less than one year's supply of food.
If the men wdio are starting out so gaily from comfortable
homes could only look ahead and see wdiat fate awaits every
one of them in the way of hardships and privations amid
those frozen mountains and unspeakably depressing gorges

A SCENE ON CHILCOOT PASS 553

and canons, tliey would not leave a thing undone to insure
some greater degree of comfort and to protect their lives.
Suicide comes cheaper in low latitudes than in the frigid
North, and funerals cost less. Consider that it takes a week
to dig a grave at Dawson, and crape sells for twenty-two dol-
lars a yard.

If they could stand where I did not long ago, on the
summit of Chilkoot Pass, and look below, down through
the bald and frozen gorge, upon the camp fires of several
hundred haggard, gold-hungry men on their way to Daw-
son, they would have some idea of what going to seek a
fortune in mining in the Arctic Circle means. Used as I
am to the severities and grim hardships of life, that scene
at Chilkoot Pass was very imju^essive. I saw companies of
men wearily working their way, in the face of a gale that
seemed strong enough to topple over the very mountain
peaks, up the rocky, tortuous trail to the toj) of the pass.
Every man looked a picture of distress. I know that I did.
They all slept in snowbanks, ate frozen canned food, and
risked a thousand mortal ailments from ex]iosure.

Another point to be strongly impressed upon those start-
ing out is that they should sail northward only in a first-class
ship. Some of the best vessels have had narrow escapes
from shipwreck, and others have been lost. The doniaiid
for sailing vessels has called into the service many on wliidi
it is unsafe to risk life. There are chances enongh for a
sudden death after Alaska is reacheil witliunt iiiciiiTing any
more than are necessary l)efore disend)arkiiig.

All packages should be marked clearly with (iistiiictive
characters which can be easily and readily recognized in
addition to the name and address. Tin's will be found very
scrviceal)le wlum a shi])'s enlire cargo is diniipcd on eillier

55-1: HOW TO PUT UP SUPPLIES

the Skagwny or Dyca beach without anv thought of the
owners; and wlien it is essential to have them picked out and
placed farther up on the beach in a short time.

Take no trunks. They are about as difficult to get over
the passes as six-story buildings. The Indians will not
touch them, and they are apt to make a sled unmanageable.
N"o package of more than a hundred pounds should be al-
lowed, and the more that can be packed in bags the better.
Flour should be i)iit in fifty-pound sacks and two of these
slipped into a strong bag. Oil-skin sacks are a good thing
in rainy weather and in shooting the rapids, but in cold
weather they often become brittle and break. It will be
difficult, if not impossible, to reach the Yukon without hav-
ing some of the goods damaged or spoiled. Flour will get
wet, and the best of it will, very likely, have to be dug out
from a surrounding layer of dough. Sugar is even more
difficult to handle successfully in wet weather. If a part
of it gets damp the whole will have a tendency to turn to
syrup, unless the weather is freezing, when it will become as
hard as quartz. Salt is likely to be affected in much the
same way.

Supplies which can be obtained in compressed form,
such as tea, are best to take, for the less bulk the better. I
have found canned goods always serviceable, though one
gets very tired of them. Bacon and beans can be easily
managed, and generally constitute a staple article of diet.
If you use tobacco, take along plenty of it. It is as good as
money on the Yukon, better than paper money. The In-
dians will take no money but coin.

As to clothing, the principal difference between Alaska
and a milder clime is that the former requires much heavier
underclothing. Too heavy outer garments only impede

SOME OF THE ESSENTIALS 555

the movements of the limbs and really do not keep out the
wind. Fur coats might seem valuable, and some will say
that they are. They are most usually worn when people
are having their pictures taken to send home to their friends.
A good fur blanket or robe is, however, well-nigh indis-
pensable. People in Alaska, as everywhere else, have dif-
ferent tastes, and in these matters you will know better how
to suit your own after spending a winter there.

Take needles, thread, buttons, comb, brush, looking-
glass, and such other toilet and domestic articles as you
need; also a ball of twine, sail-needles, and wax. Make a
canvas-case with pockets to hold these things — one that
can be rolled up and tied. Take also fishing-tackle and shot-
guns. It is a great mistake to take anything except what is
absolutely necessary if the trip is made overland. The jour-
ney is long and arduous, and a man should not add one pound
of baggage to his outfit that can be dispensed with. Men
have loaded themselves up with rifles and revolvers, which is
entirely unnecessary. Kevolvers will get you into trouble,
and there is no use of taking them with you, as large game
is rarely found on the trip. Persons who have prospected
through this region for some years have seen few moose.
You will not now see any large game whatever on your trip
from Dyea to Dawson. wShot-guns are handy for geese.

When on the trail there are a hundred little essentials
which can be neglected only to the greatest discomfort and
possible peril. Jack Dalton, who is one of the most expert
and experienced of men in following Alaskan trails, once
laid down the following set of rules for a small party, and
they contain many useful suggestions tersely expressed:

"Establish camp rules, especially regarding the fooil.
Allot rations, those while idle to be less than when at work,

556 JACK dalton's rules of the trail

and also pro rata during heat and cold. Pitch the tent on
top of the snow, pushing the poles and pegs down into it.
While some are busily engaged in building a fire and mak-
ing a bed, let the best cook of the party prepare the sup-
per. If you have no stove, build a camp fire, either on an
exposed point of rock or in a hole dug in the snow; if you
have a stove, arrange it on a " gridiron " inside the tent, the
gridiron consisting of three poles some six or eight feet long,
and laid on the snow, on which the stove is placed. The
heat from the stove will soon melt a hole underneath, but
there will be enough firm snow under the ends of the poles
to hold it up. For the bed, cut hemlock brush and lay it on
the snow to a depth of a foot or more, and cover this with a
large square of canvas on which blankets and robes are put.
When finished it forms a natural spring bed, which will
offer grateful rest after hauling a sled all day. I» all ex-
cept the most sheltered locations the tent is necessary for
comfort, and the stove gives better satisfaction than the
camp-fire, and, as it needs but little wood, is easier to cook
over, and does not poison the ej^es wdth smoke.

" There are fewer cases of snow-blindness among those
who use stoves than among those who crowd around a smok-
ing camp-fire for cooking or warmth. Comfort in making
a trip of this kind will depend, in a gTeat measure, upon the
convenience of camping, suitable clothing and light, warm
bedding. Choose your bunk as far from the tent door as
possible, and keep a fire hole open near your camp. If by
any chance you are traveling across a plain (no trail) and a
fog comes up, or a blinding snowstorm, either of which will
prevent your taking your bearings, camp, and don't move
for any one until all is clear again.

" If it is ever necessary to cache a load of provisions

TO INSURE PHYSICAL COMFORT 557

put all articles next to the gToiind wbieli will be most af-
fected bv beat, providing, at tbe same time, tbat dampness
will not afl'ect tbeir food properties to any great extent.
After piling your stuff, load it over carefully witb beavy
rocks. I'ake your compass bearings and also note in your
pocketbook some landmarks near by, and also tbe direction

in wliicli tbey lie from your cacbe i. e., make your caobe,

if possible, come between exactly north and south of two
given prominent marks, so that you can find it.

" Keep your furs in good repair. One little slit may
cause you untold agony during a march in a heavy storm.
You cannot tell when such will be the case. If your furs
get wet, dry them in a medium temperature. Don't hold
them near a fire. Keep your sleeping bag clean. If it
becomes inhabited, freeze the inhabitants out. Keep all
your draw-strings on clothing in good repair. Don't forget
to use your goggles when the sun is bright on snow. A fel-
low is often tempted to leave them oif. Don't you do it.
A little dry grass or hay in the inside of your mittens, next
your hands, will promote great heat, especially when it gets
damp from the moisture of your hands. After the mittens
are removed from the hands, remove the hay and dry it.
Failing that, throw it away. Be sure, during the winter, to
watch your footgear carefully. Change wet stockings be-
fore they freeze or vou may lose a toe or foot."

Remember that if intending to build a boat for travel
down the Yukon the start shoidd be early enough to reach
the lower lakes when the ice goes out. Usually the lakes
remains frozen until late in May. The Lewis and the up-
per Yukon open a week to a fortnight earlier. Last year
the ice broke on Lake Lebarge in the last of AFay, at l^aw-
son on the I7th of May, at Fort Yukon three days after-

558 KEEP ON YOUR OWN SIDE

wards, three liiiiKlrcd miles furtlier down on the 23d of
May, and at the nioutli somewhat hiter. The first steamer
for the season reached Dawson on June 2d, having voyaged
from winter quarters beloAV Circle City.

Uo not beguile yourself with the thought that working
down the river in open water is at all easy. The Yukon
has as many moods as a woman, and presents problems which
few men are capable of solving in a hurr}^, and some which
have to be solved in a hurry or it may be too late.

Finally, I would advise the man on his way to the Klon-
dike to go to some creek on the American side of that re-
gion — that is, unless he has special reasons for going to the
Klondike to seek golden placers. I mean that if he in-
tends merely to go as a tenderfoot to prospect for gold, he
will now stand about as good a chance of finding riches on
the American side of the line as on the Canadian, and he
will not only avoid the impost duties of Canada, but he will
save the rather expensive legal procedure of locating claims
under the Canadian mining law^s. Besides, most of us who
have been in the Klondike region think the richest finds
of gold in the near future will be principally on the Ameri-
can side. Several hundred men in Dawson and Circle City
who have vainly sought gold in the Klondike for months
have begun vigorous prospecting on the American side.
Some of them are crack prospectors, and that is why we
need not be surprised to hear of rich finds in our own Alaska
before long.

THE EXD.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY

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